Differential opacity position indicator

ABSTRACT

At a portable multifunction device with a touch screen display: displaying a portion of an electronic document; displaying a first vertical bar on top of the displayed portion of the electronic document; detecting a movement of an object on the displayed portion of the electronic document; in response to the detecting: (a) scrolling the electronic document in the direction of movement, (b) replacing the first vertical bar with a second vertical bar, (c) moving the second vertical bar to a new vertical position such that the new vertical position corresponds to the vertical position in the electronic document of the displayed new portion of the electronic document; and in response to a predetermined condition being met, replacing the second vertical bar with the first vertical bar, wherein an opacity of the first vertical bar is less than an opacity of the second vertical bar.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to the field portable electronic devices which are configured to display portions of electronic documents, portions of lists of items and/or the like.

BACKGROUND

As portable electronic devices become smaller, and the number of functions performed by a given device increases, it has become a significant challenge to design a user interface that allows users to easily interact with such multifunction devices. This challenge is particularly significant for handheld portable devices, which have much smaller screens than desktop or laptop computers. This situation is unfortunate because the user interface is the gateway through which users receive not only content but also responses to user actions or behaviors, including user attempts to access a device's features, tools, and functions. Some portable communication devices (e.g., mobile telephones, sometimes called mobile phones, cell phones, cellular telephones, smart phones or the like) have resorted to adding more pushbuttons, increasing the density of push buttons, overloading the functions of pushbuttons, or using complex menu systems to allow a user to access, store and manipulate data. These conventional user interfaces often result in complicated key sequences and menu hierarchies that must be memorized by the user.

Many conventional user interfaces, such as those that include physical pushbuttons, are also inflexible. This is unfortunate because it may prevent a user interface from being configured and/or adapted by either an application running on the portable device or by users. When coupled with the time consuming requirement to memorize multiple key sequences and menu hierarchies, and the difficulty in activating a desired pushbutton, such inflexibility is frustrating to most users.

In particular, when a conventional user interface on a portable device is used to display a portion of an electronic document, a portion of a list of items, or a portion of any other textual or graphic element, a user may not be able to tell the position in the document, list or other element of the displayed portion. The user also may not be able to tell what fraction of the document or list corresponds to the displayed portion. Lacking this knowledge, the user may find viewing and navigating the document or list to be confusing and frustrating. In some portable devices, scroll bars are used to indicate the position in the document or list of the displayed portion. But scroll bars are commonly fixed user interface features that take up valuable display screen area on an already small display screen. In addition, scroll bars are sometimes used both for indicating the position in the document and for receiving scroll commands from the user. This dual functionality is often cumbersome in a device with a touch screen, where more intuitive and convenient scrolling means are desired and possible—such as finger swipes on arbitrary portions of the screen.

Accordingly, there is a need for portable multifunction devices with more intuitive and convenient user interfaces for navigating portions of electronic documents, lists of items and/or the like, that are easy to use and that do not reduce the screen area available for the display of documents, lists, and/or other content. Such interfaces increase the effectiveness, efficiency and user satisfaction with portable multifunction devices.

The foregoing examples of the related art and limitations related therewith are intended to be illustrative and not exclusive. Other limitations of the related art will become apparent to those of skill in the art upon a reading of the specification and a study of the figures.

SUMMARY

The above deficiencies and other problems associated with user interfaces for portable devices are reduced or eliminated by the disclosed method and portable multifunction device. In some embodiments, the device has a touch-sensitive display (also known as a “touch screen”) with a graphical user interface (GUI), one or more hardware processors, a non-transient memory and one or more modules, programs or sets of instructions stored in the memory for performing multiple functions. In some embodiments, the user interacts with the GUI primarily through finger contacts and gestures on the touch-sensitive display. In some embodiments, the functions may include telephoning, video conferencing, e-mailing, instant messaging, blogging, digital photographing, digital videoing, web browsing, digital music playing, and/or digital video playing. Instructions for performing these functions may be included in a computer program product configured for execution by one or more processors.

The following embodiments and aspects thereof are described and illustrated in conjunction with systems, tools and methods which are meant to be exemplary and illustrative, not limiting in scope.

One embodiment relates to a method, comprising: at a portable multifunction device with a touch screen display: displaying a portion of an electronic document on the touch screen display, wherein the displayed portion of the electronic document has a vertical position in the electronic document; displaying a first vertical bar on top of the displayed portion of the electronic document, wherein the first vertical bar is displayed proximate to a vertical edge of the displayed portion of the electronic document, wherein the first vertical bar has a vertical position on top of the displayed portion of the electronic document that corresponds to the vertical position in the electronic document of the displayed portion of the electronic document; detecting a movement of an object on or near the touch screen display, wherein the movement is in a direction on the displayed portion of the electronic document; in response to detecting the movement: (a) scrolling the electronic document displayed on the touch screen display in the direction of movement of the object so that a new portion of the electronic document is displayed, (b) replacing the first vertical bar with a second vertical bar, (c) moving the second vertical bar to a new vertical position such that the new vertical position corresponds to the vertical position in the electronic document of the displayed new portion of the electronic document, and maintaining the second vertical bar proximate to the vertical edge of the displayed portion of the electronic document; and in response to a predetermined condition being met, replacing the second vertical bar with the first vertical bar, while continuing to display the displayed portion of the electronic document, wherein the displayed portion of the electronic document has a vertical extent that is less than a vertical extent of the electronic document. In this method: an opacity of the first vertical bar is defined by an alpha channel value of 0.1 or more, an opacity of the second vertical bar is defined by an alpha channel value of 1 or less, and the alpha channel value of the first vertical bar is lower by at least 0.3 than the alpha channel value of the second vertical bar, such that a difference between the opacities of the first and second vertical bars is human-observable, and such that a segment of the electronic document which lies beneath the first vertical bar is partially human-observable.

Another embodiment relates to a portable multifunction device, comprising: a touch screen display; one or more hardware processors; a non-transient memory; and one or more programs stored in the non-transient memory and are configured to be executed by at least one of the one or more hardware processors, the one or more programs including instructions for: displaying a portion of an electronic document on the touch screen display, wherein the displayed portion of the electronic document has a vertical position in the electronic document; displaying a first vertical bar on top of the displayed portion of the electronic document, wherein the first vertical bar is displayed proximate to a vertical edge of the displayed portion of the electronic document, wherein the first vertical bar has a vertical position on top of the displayed portion of the electronic document that corresponds to the vertical position in the electronic document of the displayed portion of the electronic document; detecting a movement of an object on or near the touch screen display, wherein the movement is in a direction on the displayed portion of the electronic document; in response to detecting the movement: (a) scrolling the electronic document displayed on the touch screen display in the direction of movement of the object so that a new portion of the electronic document is displayed, (b) replacing the first vertical bar with a second vertical bar, (c) moving the second vertical bar to a new vertical position such that the new vertical position corresponds to the vertical position in the electronic document of the displayed new portion of the electronic document, and maintaining the second vertical bar proximate to the vertical edge of the displayed portion of the electronic document; and in response to a predetermined condition being met, replacing the second vertical bar with the first vertical bar, while continuing to display the displayed portion of the electronic document, wherein the displayed portion of the electronic document has a vertical extent that is less than a vertical extent of the electronic document. In this portable multifunction device: an opacity of the first vertical bar is defined by an alpha channel value of 0.1 or more, an opacity of the second vertical bar is defined by an alpha channel value of 1 or less, and the alpha channel value of the first vertical bar is lower by at least 0.3 than the alpha channel value of the second vertical bar, such that a difference between the opacities of the first and second vertical bars is human-observable, and such that a segment of the electronic document which lies beneath the first vertical bar is partially human-observable.

In some embodiments, the alpha channel value of the first vertical bar is between 0.1 and 0.5; and the alpha channel value of the second vertical bar is between 0.8 and 1.

In some embodiments, the alpha channel value of the first vertical bar is between 0.1 and 0.2; and the alpha channel value of the second vertical bar is between 0.5 and 1.

In some embodiments, the alpha channel value of the first vertical bar is lower by at least 0.5 than the alpha channel value of the second vertical bar.

In some embodiments, the alpha channel value of the first vertical bar is between 0.1 and 0.4; and the alpha channel value of the second vertical bar is between 0.9 and 1.

In some embodiments, the method further comprises, when the portion of the electronic document is initially displayed: displaying the second vertical bar for a predetermined time period even if no object is detected on or near the electronic document, and replacing the second vertical bar with the first vertical bar immediately following the predetermined time period.

In some embodiments, the one or more programs further include instructions for, when the portion of the electronic document is initially displayed: displaying the second vertical bar for a predetermined time period even if no object is detected on or near the electronic document, and replacing the second vertical bar with the first vertical bar immediately following the predetermined time period.

In some embodiments, the predetermined period is between 0.5 seconds and 5 seconds.

In some embodiments, the predetermined condition comprises ceasing to detect the object on or near the touch screen display.

In some embodiments, the predetermined condition comprises ceasing to detect the object on or near the touch screen display for a predetermined time period.

In some embodiments, the object is a finger.

In some embodiments, the first and the second vertical bars each have a major axis, and wherein a portion of the electronic document along the major axis of each of the first and the second vertical bars is not covered by either one of the first and the second vertical bars.

In addition to the exemplary aspects and embodiments described above, further aspects and embodiments will become apparent by reference to the figures and by study of the following detailed description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

Exemplary embodiments are illustrated in referenced figures. Dimensions of components and features shown in the figures are generally chosen for convenience and clarity of presentation and are not necessarily shown to scale. It is intended that the embodiments and figures disclosed herein are to be considered illustrative rather than restrictive. The figures are listed below.

FIGS. 1A and 1B are block diagrams illustrating portable multifunction devices with touch-sensitive displays in accordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 2 illustrates a portable multifunction device having a touch screen in accordance with some embodiments;

FIGS. 3 and 4 illustrate exemplary user interfaces for a menu of applications on a portable multifunction device in accordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 5 illustrates an exemplary user interface for listing instant message conversations on a portable multifunction device in accordance with some embodiments;

FIGS. 6A-6K illustrate an exemplary user interface for inputting text for an instant message in accordance with some embodiments;

FIGS. 7A and 7B illustrate an exemplary user interface for a contact list in accordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 8 illustrates an exemplary user interface for a camera in accordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 9 illustrates an exemplary user interface for a camera roll in accordance with some embodiments;

FIGS. 10A-10C illustrate an exemplary user interface for viewing and manipulating acquired images in accordance with some embodiments;

FIGS. 11A and 11B illustrate exemplary user interfaces for viewing albums in accordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 12 illustrates an exemplary user interface for viewing an album in accordance with some embodiments;

FIGS. 13A and 13B illustrate exemplary user interfaces for viewing images in an album in accordance with some embodiments;

FIGS. 14A-14C illustrate an exemplary user interface for organizing and managing videos in accordance with some embodiments;

FIGS. 15A-15D illustrate an exemplary user interface for displaying and managing recent calls in accordance with some embodiments;

FIGS. 16A-16D illustrate exemplary user interfaces for voicemail in accordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 17 illustrates an exemplary user interface for organizing and managing email in accordance with some embodiments;

FIGS. 18A-18C illustrate an exemplary user interface for creating emails in accordance with some embodiments;

FIGS. 19A-19I illustrate exemplary user interfaces for displaying and managing an inbox in accordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 19J illustrates an exemplary user interface for setting email user preferences in accordance with some embodiments;

FIGS. 20A-20G illustrate exemplary user interfaces for a browser in accordance with some embodiments;

FIGS. 21A-21I illustrate exemplary user interfaces for a music and video player in accordance with some embodiments;

FIGS. 22A-22E illustrate exemplary user interfaces for a calendar in accordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 23A is a flow diagram illustrating a process of displaying a portion of a list of items in accordance with some embodiments;

FIGS. 23B and 23C are flow diagrams illustrating processes of displaying a portion of an electronic document in accordance with some embodiments; and

FIGS. 24A and 24B illustrate exemplary user interfaces in which vertical and horizontal scroll bars are displayed in low and high opacity levels, respectively.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Reference will now be made in detail to embodiments, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. In the following detailed description, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention. However, it will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art that the present invention may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known methods, procedures, components, circuits, and networks have not been described in detail so as not to unnecessarily obscure aspects of the embodiments.

It will also be understood that, although the terms first, second, etc. may be used herein to describe various elements, these elements should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element from another. For example, a first gesture could be termed a second gesture, and, similarly, a second gesture could be termed a first gesture, without departing from the scope of the present invention.

The terminology used in the description of the invention herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. As used in the description of the invention and the appended claims, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will also be understood that the term “and/or” as used herein refers to and encompasses any and all possible combinations of one or more of the associated listed items. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises” and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof.

Embodiments of a portable multifunction device, user interfaces for such devices, and associated processes for using such devices are described. In some embodiments, the device is a portable communications device such as a mobile telephone that also contains other functions, such as PDA and/or music player functions.

The user interface may include a physical click wheel in addition to a touch screen or a virtual click wheel displayed on the touch screen. A click wheel is a user-interface device that may provide navigation commands based on an angular displacement of the wheel or a point of contact with the wheel by a user of the device. A click wheel may also be used to provide a user command corresponding to selection of one or more items, for example, when the user of the device presses down on at least a portion of the wheel or the center of the wheel. Alternatively, breaking contact with a click wheel image on a touch screen surface may indicate a user command corresponding to selection. For simplicity, in the discussion that follows, a portable multifunction device that includes a touch screen is used as an exemplary embodiment. It should be understood, however, that some of the user interfaces and associated processes may be applied to other devices, such as personal computers and laptop computers, that may include one or more other physical user-interface devices, such as a physical click wheel, a physical keyboard, a mouse and/or a joystick.

The device supports a variety of applications, such as a telephone application, a video conferencing application, an e-mail application, an instant messaging application, a blogging application, a digital camera application, a digital video camera application, a web browsing application, a digital music player application, and/or a digital video player application.

The various applications that may be executed on the device may use at least one common physical user-interface device, such as the touch screen. One or more functions of the touch screen as well as corresponding information displayed on the device may be adjusted and/or varied from one application to the next and/or within a respective application. In this way, a common physical architecture (such as the touch screen) of the device may support the variety of applications with user interfaces that are intuitive and transparent.

The user interfaces may include one or more soft keyboard embodiments. The soft keyboard embodiments may include standard (QWERTY) and/or non-standard configurations of symbols on the displayed icons of the keyboard, such as those described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/459,606, “Keyboards For Portable Electronic Devices,” filed Jul. 24, 2006, and Ser. No. 11/459,615, “Touch Screen Keyboards For Portable Electronic Devices,” filed Jul. 24, 2006, the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety. The keyboard embodiments may include a reduced number of icons (or soft keys) relative to the number of keys in existing physical keyboards, such as that for a typewriter. This may make it easier for users to select one or more icons in the keyboard, and thus, one or more corresponding symbols. The keyboard embodiments may be adaptive. For example, displayed icons may be modified in accordance with user actions, such as selecting one or more icons and/or one or more corresponding symbols. One or more applications on the portable device may utilize common and/or different keyboard embodiments. Thus, the keyboard embodiment used may be tailored to at least some of the applications. In some embodiments, one or more keyboard embodiments may be tailored to a respective user. For example, one or more keyboard embodiments may be tailored to a respective user based on a word usage history (lexicography, slang, individual usage) of the respective user. Some of the keyboard embodiments may be adjusted to reduce a probability of a user error when selecting one or more icons, and thus one or more symbols, when using the soft keyboard embodiments.

Attention is now directed towards embodiments of the device. FIGS. 1A and 1B are block diagrams illustrating portable multifunction devices 100 with touch-sensitive displays 112 in accordance with some embodiments. The touch-sensitive display 112 is sometimes called a “touch screen” for convenience, and may also be known as or called a touch-sensitive display system. The device 100 may include a memory 102 (which may include one or more computer readable storage mediums), a memory controller 122, one or more processing units (CPU's) 120, a peripherals interface 118, RF circuitry 108, audio circuitry 110, a speaker 111, a microphone 113, an input/output (I/O) subsystem 106, other input or control devices 116, and an external port 124. The device 100 may include one or more optical sensors 164. These components may communicate over one or more communication buses or signal lines 103.

It should be appreciated that the device 100 is only one example of a portable multifunction device 100, and that the device 100 may have more or fewer components than shown, may combine two or more components, or a may have a different configuration or arrangement of the components. The various components shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B may be implemented in hardware, software or a combination of both hardware and software, including one or more signal processing and/or application specific integrated circuits.

Memory 102 may include high-speed random access memory and may also include non-volatile memory, such as one or more magnetic disk storage devices, flash memory devices, or other non-volatile solid-state memory devices. Access to memory 102 by other components of the device 100, such as the CPU 120 and the peripherals interface 118, may be controlled by the memory controller 122.

The peripherals interface 118 couples the input and output peripherals of the device to the CPU 120 and memory 102. The one or more processors 120 run or execute various software programs and/or sets of instructions stored in memory 102 to perform various functions for the device 100 and to process data.

In some embodiments, the peripherals interface 118, the CPU 120, and the memory controller 122 may be implemented on a single chip, such as a chip 104. In some other embodiments, they may be implemented on separate chips.

The RF (radio frequency) circuitry 108 receives and sends RF signals, also called electromagnetic signals. The RF circuitry 108 converts electrical signals to/from electromagnetic signals and communicates with communications networks and other communications devices via the electromagnetic signals. The RF circuitry 108 may include well-known circuitry for performing these functions, including but not limited to an antenna system, an RF transceiver, one or more amplifiers, a tuner, one or more oscillators, a digital signal processor, a CODEC chipset, a subscriber identity module (SIM) card, memory, and so forth. The RF circuitry 108 may communicate with networks, such as the Internet, also referred to as the World Wide Web (WWW), an intranet and/or a wireless network, such as a cellular telephone network, a wireless local area network (LAN) and/or a metropolitan area network (MAN), and other devices by wireless communication. The wireless communication may use any of a plurality of communications standards, protocols and technologies, including but not limited to Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), Enhanced Data GSM Environment (EDGE), high-speed downlink packet access (HSDPA), wideband code division multiple access (W-CDMA), code division multiple access (CDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), Bluetooth, Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi) (e.g., IEEE 802.11a, IEEE 802.11b, IEEE 802.11g and/or IEEE 802.11n), voice over Internet Protocol (VoW), Wi-MAX, a protocol for email (e.g., Internet message access protocol (IMAP) and/or post office protocol (POP)), instant messaging (e.g., extensible messaging and presence protocol (XMPP), Session Initiation Protocol for Instant Messaging and Presence Leveraging Extensions (SIMPLE), and/or Instant Messaging and Presence Service (IMPS)), and/or Short Message Service (SMS)), or any other suitable communication protocol, including communication protocols not yet developed as of the filing date of this document.

The audio circuitry 110, the speaker 111, and the microphone 113 provide an audio interface between a user and the device 100. The audio circuitry 110 receives audio data from the peripherals interface 118, converts the audio data to an electrical signal, and transmits the electrical signal to the speaker 111. The speaker 111 converts the electrical signal to human-audible sound waves. The audio circuitry 110 also receives electrical signals converted by the microphone 113 from sound waves. The audio circuitry 110 converts the electrical signal to audio data and transmits the audio data to the peripherals interface 118 for processing. Audio data may be retrieved from and/or transmitted to memory 102 and/or the RF circuitry 108 by the peripherals interface 118. In some embodiments, the audio circuitry 110 also includes a headset jack (e.g. 212, FIG. 2). The headset jack provides an interface between the audio circuitry 110 and removable audio input/output peripherals, such as output-only headphones or a headset with both output (e.g., a headphone for one or both ears) and input (e.g., a microphone).

The I/O subsystem 106 couples input/output peripherals on the device 100, such as the touch screen 112 and other input/control devices 116, to the peripherals interface 118. The I/O subsystem 106 may include a display controller 156 and one or more input controllers 160 for other input or control devices. The one or more input controllers 160 receive/send electrical signals from/to other input or control devices 116. The other input/control devices 116 may include physical buttons (e.g., push buttons, rocker buttons, etc.), dials, slider switches, joysticks, click wheels, and so forth. In some alternate embodiments, input controller(s) 160 may be coupled to any (or none) of the following: a keyboard, infrared port, USB port, and a pointer device such as a mouse. The one or more buttons (e.g., 208, FIG. 2) may include an up/down button for volume control of the speaker 111 and/or the microphone 113. The one or more buttons may include a push button (e.g., 206, FIG. 2). A quick press of the push button may disengage a lock of the touch screen 112 or begin a process that uses gestures on the touch screen to unlock the device, as described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/322,549, “Unlocking a Device by Performing Gestures on an Unlock Image,” filed Dec. 23, 2005, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. A longer press of the push button (e.g., 206) may turn power to the device 100 on or off. The user may be able to customize a functionality of one or more of the buttons. The touch screen 112 is used to implement virtual or soft buttons and one or more soft keyboards.

The touch-sensitive touch screen 112 provides an input interface and an output interface between the device and a user. The display controller 156 receives and/or sends electrical signals from/to the touch screen 112. The touch screen 112 displays visual output to the user. The visual output may include graphics, text, icons, video, and any combination thereof (collectively termed “graphics”). In some embodiments, some or all of the visual output may correspond to user-interface objects, further details of which are described below.

A touch screen 112 has a touch-sensitive surface, sensor or set of sensors that accepts input from the user based on haptic and/or tactile contact. The touch screen 112 and the display controller 156 (along with any associated modules and/or sets of instructions in memory 102) detect contact (and any movement or breaking of the contact) on the touch screen 112 and converts the detected contact into interaction with user-interface objects (e.g., one or more soft keys, icons, web pages or images) that are displayed on the touch screen. In an exemplary embodiment, a point of contact between a touch screen 112 and the user corresponds to a finger of the user.

The touch screen 112 may use LCD (liquid crystal display) technology, or LPD (light emitting polymer display) technology, although other display technologies may be used in other embodiments. The touch screen 112 and the display controller 156 may detect contact and any movement or breaking thereof using any of a plurality of touch sensing technologies now known or later developed, including but not limited to capacitive, resistive, infrared, and surface acoustic wave technologies, as well as other proximity sensor arrays or other elements for determining one or more points of contact with a touch screen 112.

A touch-sensitive display in some embodiments of the touch screen 112 may be analogous to the multi-touch sensitive tablets described in the following U.S. Pat. No. 6,323,846 (Westerman et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 6,570,557 (Westerman et al.), and/or U.S. Pat. No. 6,677,932 (Westerman), and/or U.S. Patent Publication 2002/0015024A1, each of which is hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety. However, a touch screen 112 displays visual output from the portable device 100, whereas touch sensitive tablets do not provide visual output.

A touch-sensitive display in some embodiments of the touch screen 112 may be as described in the following applications: (1) U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/381,313, “Multipoint Touch Surface Controller,” filed May 2, 2006; (2) U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/840,862, “Multipoint Touchscreen,” filed May 6, 2004; (3) U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/903,964, “Gestures For Touch Sensitive Input Devices,” filed Jul. 30, 2004; (4) U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/048,264, “Gestures For Touch Sensitive Input Devices,” filed Jan. 31, 2005; (5) U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/038,590, “Mode-Based Graphical User Interfaces For Touch Sensitive Input Devices,” filed Jan. 18, 2005; (6) U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/228,758, “Virtual Input Device Placement On A Touch Screen User Interface,” filed Sep. 16, 2005; (7) U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/228,700, “Operation Of A Computer With A Touch Screen Interface,” filed Sep. 16, 2005; (8) U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/228,737, “Activating Virtual Keys Of A Touch-Screen Virtual Keyboard,” filed Sep. 16, 2005; and (9) U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/367,749, “Multi-Functional Hand-Held Device,” filed Mar. 3, 2006. All of these applications are incorporated by reference herein in their entirety.

The touch screen 112 may have a resolution in excess of 100 dpi. In an exemplary embodiment, the touch screen has a resolution of approximately 160 dpi. The user may make contact with the touch screen 112 using any suitable object or appendage, such as a stylus, a finger, and so forth. In some embodiments, the user interface is designed to work primarily with finger-based contacts and gestures, which are much less precise than stylus-based input due to the larger area of contact of a finger on the touch screen. In some embodiments, the device translates the rough finger-based input into a precise pointer/cursor position or command for performing the actions desired by the user.

In some embodiments, in addition to the touch screen, the device 100 may include a touchpad (not shown) for activating or deactivating particular functions. In some embodiments, the touchpad is a touch-sensitive area of the device that, unlike the touch screen, does not display visual output. The touchpad may be a touch-sensitive surface that is separate from the touch screen 112 or an extension of the touch-sensitive surface formed by the touch screen.

In some embodiments, the device 100 may include a physical or virtual click wheel as an input control device 116. A user may navigate among and interact with one or more graphical objects (henceforth referred to as icons) displayed in the touch screen 112 by rotating the click wheel or by moving a point of contact with the click wheel (e.g., where the amount of movement of the point of contact is measured by its angular displacement with respect to a center point of the click wheel). The click wheel may also be used to select one or more of the displayed icons. For example, the user may press down on at least a portion of the click wheel or an associated button. User commands and navigation commands provided by the user via the click wheel may be processed by an input controller 160 as well as one or more of the modules and/or sets of instructions in memory 102. For a virtual click wheel, the click wheel and click wheel controller may be part of the touch screen 112 and the display controller 156, respectively. For a virtual click wheel, the click wheel may be either an opaque or semitransparent object that appears and disappears on the touch screen display in response to user interaction with the device. In some embodiments, a virtual click wheel is displayed on the touch screen of a portable multifunction device and operated by user contact with the touch screen.

The device 100 also includes a power system 162 for powering the various components. The power system 162 may include a power management system, one or more power sources (e.g., battery, alternating current (AC)), a recharging system, a power failure detection circuit, a power converter or inverter, a power status indicator (e.g., a light-emitting diode (LED)) and any other components associated with the generation, management and distribution of power in portable devices.

The device 100 may also include one or more optical sensors 164. FIGS. 1A and 1B show an optical sensor coupled to an optical sensor controller 158 in I/O subsystem 106. The optical sensor 164 may include charge-coupled device (CCD) or complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) phototransistors. The optical sensor 164 receives light from the environment, projected through one or more lens, and converts the light to data representing an image. In conjunction with an imaging module 143 (also called a camera module), the optical sensor 164 may capture still images or video. In some embodiments, an optical sensor is located on the back of the device 100, opposite the touch screen display 112 on the front of the device, so that the touch screen display may be used as a viewfinder for either still and/or video image acquisition. In some embodiments, an optical sensor is located on the front of the device so that the user's image may be obtained for videoconferencing while the user views the other video conference participants on the touch screen display. In some embodiments, the position of the optical sensor 164 can be changed by the user (e.g., by rotating the lens and the sensor in the device housing) so that a single optical sensor 164 may be used along with the touch screen display for both video conferencing and still and/or video image acquisition.

The device 100 may also include one or more proximity sensors 166. FIGS. 1A and 1B show a proximity sensor 166 coupled to the peripherals interface 118. Alternately, the proximity sensor 166 may be coupled to an input controller 160 in the I/O subsystem 106. The proximity sensor 166 may perform as described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/241,839, “Proximity Detector In Handheld Device,” filed Sep. 30, 2005; Ser. No. 11/240,788, “Proximity Detector In Handheld Device,” filed Sep. 30, 2005; Ser. No. 11/620,702, “Using Ambient Light Sensor To Augment Proximity Sensor Output”; Ser. No. 11/586,862, “Automated Response To And Sensing Of User Activity In Portable Devices,” filed Oct. 24, 2006; and Ser. No. 11/638,251, “Methods And Systems For Automatic Configuration Of Peripherals,” which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety. In some embodiments, the proximity sensor turns off and disables the touch screen 112 when the multifunction device is placed near the user's ear (e.g., when the user is making a phone call). In some embodiments, the proximity sensor keeps the screen off when the device is in the user's pocket, purse, or other dark area to prevent unnecessary battery drainage when the device is a locked state.

The device 100 may also include one or more accelerometers 168. FIGS. 1A and 1B show an accelerometer 168 coupled to the peripherals interface 118. Alternately, the accelerometer 168 may be coupled to an input controller 160 in the I/O subsystem 106. The accelerometer 168 may perform as described in U.S. Patent Publication No. 20050190059, “Acceleration-based Theft Detection System for Portable Electronic Devices,” and U.S. Patent Publication No. 20060017692, “Methods And Apparatuses For Operating A Portable Device Based On An Accelerometer,” both of which are which are incorporated by reference in their entirety. In some embodiments, information is displayed on the touch screen display in a portrait view or a landscape view based on an analysis of data received from the one or more accelerometers.

In some embodiments, the software components stored in memory 102 may include an operating system 126, a communication module (or set of instructions) 128, a contact/motion module (or set of instructions) 130, a graphics module (or set of instructions) 132, a text input module (or set of instructions) 134, a Global Positioning System (GPS) module (or set of instructions) 135, and applications (or set of instructions) 136.

The operating system 126 (e.g., Darwin, RTXC, LINUX, UNIX, OS X, WINDOWS, or an embedded operating system such as VxWorks) includes various software components and/or drivers for controlling and managing general system tasks (e.g., memory management, storage device control, power management, etc.) and facilitates communication between various hardware and software components.

The communication module 128 facilitates communication with other devices over one or more external ports 124 and also includes various software components for handling data received by the RF circuitry 108 and/or the external port 124. The external port 124 (e.g., Universal Serial Bus (USB), FIREWIRE, etc.) is adapted for coupling directly to other devices or indirectly over a network (e.g., the Internet, wireless LAN, etc.). In some embodiments, the external port is a multi-pin (e.g., 30-pin) connector that is the same as, or similar to and/or compatible with the 30-pin connector used on iPod (trademark of Apple Computer, Inc.) devices.

The contact/motion module 130 may detect contact with the touch screen 112 (in conjunction with the display controller 156) and other touch sensitive devices (e.g., a touchpad or physical click wheel). The contact/motion module 130 includes various software components for performing various operations related to detection of contact, such as determining if contact has occurred, determining if there is movement of the contact and tracking the movement across the touch screen 112, and determining if the contact has been broken (i.e., if the contact has ceased). Determining movement of the point of contact may include determining speed (magnitude), velocity (magnitude and direction), and/or an acceleration (a change in magnitude and/or direction) of the point of contact. These operations may be applied to single contacts (e.g., one finger contacts) or to multiple simultaneous contacts (e.g., “multitouch”/multiple finger contacts). In some embodiments, the contact/motion module 130 and the display controller 156 also detects contact on a touchpad. In some embodiments, the contact/motion module 130 and the controller 160 detects contact on a click wheel.

The graphics module 132 includes various known software components for rendering and displaying graphics on the touch screen 112, including components for changing the intensity of graphics that are displayed. As used herein, the term “graphics” includes any object that can be displayed to a user, including without limitation text, web pages, icons (such as user-interface objects including soft keys), digital images, videos, animations and the like. An animation in this context is a display of a sequence of images that gives the appearance of movement, and informs the user of an action that has been performed (such as moving an email message to a folder). In this context, a respective animation that confirms an action by the user of the device typically takes a predefined, finite amount of time, such as an amount of time between 0.2 and 1.0 seconds, or between 0.5 and 2.0 seconds, depending on the context.

The text input module 134, which may be a component of graphics module 132, provides soft keyboards for entering text in various applications (e.g., contacts 137, e-mail 140, IM 141, blogging 142, browser 147, and any other application that needs text input).

The GPS module 135 determines the location of the device and provides this information for use in various applications (e.g., to telephone 138 for use in location-based dialing, to camera 143 and/or blogger 142 as picture/video metadata, and to applications that provide location-based services such as weather widgets, local yellow page widgets, and map/navigation widgets).

The applications 136 may include the following modules (or sets of instructions), or a subset or superset thereof:

a contacts module 137 (sometimes called an address book or contact list);

a telephone module 138;

a video conferencing module 139;

an e-mail client module 140;

an instant messaging (IM) module 141;

a blogging module 142;

a camera module 143 for still and/or video images;

an image management module 144;

a video player module 145;

a music player module 146;

a browser module 147;

a calendar module 148;

widget modules 149, which may include weather widget 149-1, stocks widget 149-2, calculator widget 149-3, alarm clock widget 149-4, dictionary widget 149-5, and other widgets obtained by the user, as well as user-created widgets 149-6;

widget creator module 150 for making user-created widgets 149-6;

search module 151;

video and music player module 152, which merges video player module 145 and music player module 146;

notes module 153; and/or

map module 154.

Examples of other applications 136 that may be stored in memory 102 include other word processing applications, JAVA-enabled applications, encryption, digital rights management, voice recognition, and voice replication.

In conjunction with touch screen 112, display controller 156, contact module 130, graphics module 132, and text input module 134, the contacts module 137 may be used to manage an address book or contact list, including: adding name(s) to the address book; deleting name(s) from the address book; associating telephone number(s), e-mail address(es), physical address(es) or other information with a name; associating an image with a name; categorizing and sorting names; providing telephone numbers or e-mail addresses to initiate and/or facilitate communications by telephone 138, video conference 139, e-mail 140, or IM 141; and so forth. Embodiments of user interfaces and associated processes using contacts module 137 are described further below.

In conjunction with RF circuitry 108, audio circuitry 110, speaker 111, microphone 113, touch screen 112, display controller 156, contact module 130, graphics module 132, and text input module 134, the telephone module 138 may be used to enter a sequence of characters corresponding to a telephone number, access one or more telephone numbers in the address book 137, modify a telephone number that has been entered, dial a respective telephone number, conduct a conversation and disconnect or hang up when the conversation is completed. As noted above, the wireless communication may use any of a plurality of communications standards, protocols and technologies. Embodiments of user interfaces and associated processes using telephone module 138 are described further below.

In conjunction with RF circuitry 108, audio circuitry 110, speaker 111, microphone 113, touch screen 112, display controller 156, optical sensor 164, optical sensor controller 158, contact module 130, graphics module 132, text input module 134, contact list 137, and telephone module 138, the videoconferencing module 139 may be used to initiate, conduct, and terminate a video conference between a user and one or more other participants.

In conjunction with RF circuitry 108, touch screen 112, display controller 156, contact module 130, graphics module 132, and text input module 134, the e-mail client module 140 may be used to create, send, receive, and manage e-mail. In conjunction with image management module 144, the e-mail module 140 makes it very easy to create and send e-mails with still or video images taken with camera module 143. Embodiments of user interfaces and associated processes using e-mail module 140 are described further below.

In conjunction with RF circuitry 108, touch screen 112, display controller 156, contact module 130, graphics module 132, and text input module 134, the instant messaging module 141 may be used to enter a sequence of characters corresponding to an instant message, to modify previously entered characters, to transmit a respective instant message (for example, using a Short Message Service (SMS) or Multimedia Message Service (MMS) protocol for telephony-based instant messages or using XMPP, SIMPLE, or IMPS for Internet-based instant messages), to receive instant messages and to view received instant messages. In some embodiments, transmitted and/or received instant messages may include graphics, photos, audio files, video files and/or other attachments as are supported in a MMS and/or an Enhanced Messaging Service (EMS). As used herein, “instant messaging” refers to both telephony-based messages (e.g., messages sent using SMS or MMS) and Internet-based messages (e.g., messages sent using XMPP, SIMPLE, or IMPS). Embodiments of user interfaces and associated processes using instant messaging module 141 are described further below.

In conjunction with RF circuitry 108, touch screen 112, display controller 156, contact module 130, graphics module 132, text input module 134, image management module 144, and browsing module 147, the blogging module 142 may be used to send text, still images, video, and/or other graphics to a blog (e.g., the user's blog).

In conjunction with touch screen 112, display controller 156, optical sensor(s) 164, optical sensor controller 158, contact module 130, graphics module 132, and image management module 144, the camera module 143 may be used to capture still images or video (including a video stream) and store them into memory 102, modify characteristics of a still image or video, or delete a still image or video from memory 102. Embodiments of user interfaces and associated processes using camera module 143 are described further below.

In conjunction with touch screen 112, display controller 156, contact module 130, graphics module 132, text input module 134, and camera module 143, the image management module 144 may be used to arrange, modify or otherwise manipulate, label, delete, present (e.g., in a digital slide show or album), and store still and/or video images. Embodiments of user interfaces and associated processes using image management module 144 are described further below.

In conjunction with touch screen 112, display controller 156, contact module 130, graphics module 132, audio circuitry 110, and speaker 111, the video player module 145 may be used to display, present or otherwise play back videos (e.g., on the touch screen or on an external, connected display via external port 124). Embodiments of user interfaces and associated processes using video player module 145 are described further below.

In conjunction with touch screen 112, display system controller 156, contact module 130, graphics module 132, audio circuitry 110, speaker 111, RF circuitry 108, and browser module 147, the music player module 146 allows the user to download and play back recorded music and other sound files stored in one or more file formats, such as MP3 or AAC files. In some embodiments, the device 100 may include the functionality of an MP3 player, such as an iPod (trademark of Apple Computer, Inc.). Embodiments of user interfaces and associated processes using music player module 146 are described further below.

In conjunction with RF circuitry 108, touch screen 112, display system controller 156, contact module 130, graphics module 132, and text input module 134, the browser module 147 may be used to browse the Internet, including searching, linking to, receiving, and displaying web pages or portions thereof, as well as attachments and other files linked to web pages. Embodiments of user interfaces and associated processes using browser module 147 are described further below.

In conjunction with RF circuitry 108, touch screen 112, display system controller 156, contact module 130, graphics module 132, text input module 134, e-mail module 140, and browser module 147, the calendar module 148 may be used to create, display, modify, and store calendars and data associated with calendars (e.g., calendar entries, to do lists, etc.). Embodiments of user interfaces and associated processes using calendar module 148 are described further below.

In conjunction with RF circuitry 108, touch screen 112, display system controller 156, contact module 130, graphics module 132, text input module 134, and browser module 147, the widget modules 149 are mini-applications that may be downloaded and used by a user (e.g., weather widget 149-1, stocks widget 149-2, calculator widget 149-3, alarm clock widget 149-4, and dictionary widget 149-5) or created by the user (e.g., user-created widget 149-6). In some embodiments, a widget includes an HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) file, a CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) file, and a JavaScript file. In some embodiments, a widget includes an XML (Extensible Markup Language) file and a JavaScript file (e.g., Yahoo! Widgets).

In conjunction with RF circuitry 108, touch screen 112, display system controller 156, contact module 130, graphics module 132, text input module 134, and browser module 147, the widget creator module 150 may be used by a user to create widgets (e.g., turning a user-specified portion of a web page into a widget).

In conjunction with touch screen 112, display system controller 156, contact module 130, graphics module 132, and text input module 134, the search module 151 may be used to search for text, music, sound, image, video, and/or other files in memory 102 that match one or more search criteria (e.g., one or more user-specified search terms).

In conjunction with touch screen 112, display controller 156, contact module 130, graphics module 132, and text input module 134, the notes module 153 may be used to create and manage notes, to do lists, and the like.

In conjunction with RF circuitry 108, touch screen 112, display system controller 156, contact module 130, graphics module 132, text input module 134, GPS module 135, and browser module 147, the map module 154 may be used to receive, display, modify, and store maps and data associated with maps (e.g., driving directions; data on stores and other points of interest at or near a particular location; and other location-based data).

Each of the above identified modules and applications correspond to a set of instructions for performing one or more functions described above. These modules (i.e., sets of instructions) need not be implemented as separate software programs, procedures or modules, and thus various subsets of these modules may be combined or otherwise re-arranged in various embodiments. For example, video player module 145 may be combined with music player module 146 into a single module (e.g., video and music player module 152, FIG. 1B). In some embodiments, memory 102 may store a subset of the modules and data structures identified above. Furthermore, memory 102 may store additional modules and data structures not described above.

In some embodiments, the device 100 is a device where operation of a predefined set of functions on the device is performed exclusively through a touch screen 112 and/or a touchpad. By using a touch screen and/or a touchpad as the primary input/control device for operation of the device 100, the number of physical input/control devices (such as push buttons, dials, and the like) on the device 100 may be reduced.

The predefined set of functions that may be performed exclusively through a touch screen and/or a touchpad include navigation between user interfaces. In some embodiments, the touchpad, when touched by the user, navigates the device 100 to a main, home, or root menu from any user interface that may be displayed on the device 100. In such embodiments, the touchpad may be referred to as a “menu button.” In some other embodiments, the menu button may be a physical push button or other physical input/control device instead of a touchpad.

FIG. 2 illustrates a portable multifunction device 100 having a touch screen 112 in accordance with some embodiments. The touch screen may display one or more graphics within user interface (UI) 200. In this embodiment, as well as others described below, a user may select one or more of the graphics by making contact or touching the graphics, for example, with one or more fingers 202 (not drawn to scale in the figure). In some embodiments, selection of one or more graphics occurs when the user breaks contact with the one or more graphics. In some embodiments, the contact may include a gesture, such as one or more taps, one or more swipes (from left to right, right to left, upward and/or downward) and/or a rolling of a finger (from right to left, left to right, upward and/or downward) that has made contact with the device 100. In some embodiments, inadvertent contact with a graphic may not select the graphic. For example, a swipe gesture that sweeps over an application icon may not select the corresponding application when the gesture corresponding to selection is a tap.

The device 100 may also include one or more physical buttons, such as “home” or menu button 204. As described previously, the menu button 204 may be used to navigate to any application 136 in a set of applications that may be executed on the device 100. Alternatively, in some embodiments, the menu button is implemented as a soft key in a GUI in touch screen 112.

In one embodiment, the device 100 includes a touch screen 112, a menu button 204, a push button 206 for powering the device on/off and locking the device, volume adjustment button(s) 208, a Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) card slot 210, a head set jack 212, and a docking/charging external port 124. The push button 206 may be used to turn the power on/off on the device by depressing the button and holding the button in the depressed state for a predefined time interval; to lock the device by depressing the button and releasing the button before the predefined time interval has elapsed; and/or to unlock the device or initiate an unlock process. In an alternative embodiment, the device 100 also may accept verbal input for activation or deactivation of some functions through the microphone 113.

Attention is now directed towards embodiments of user interfaces (“UI”) and associated processes that may be implemented on a portable multifunction device 100.

FIGS. 3 and 4 illustrate exemplary user interfaces for a menu of applications on a portable multifunction device in accordance with some embodiments. In some embodiments, user interface 400A includes the following elements, or a subset or superset thereof:

Signal strength indicator(s) 402 for wireless communication(s), such as cellular and Wi-Fi signals;

Time 404;

Battery status indicator 406;

Tray 408 with icons for frequently used applications, such as one or more of the following: Phone 138, which may include an indicator 414 of the number of missed calls or voicemail messages; E-mail client 140, which may include an indicator 410 of the number of unread e-mails; Browser 147; and Music player 146; and

Icons for other applications, such as one or more of the following: IM 141; Image management 144; Camera 143; Video player 145; Weather 149-1; Stocks 149-2; Blog 142; Calendar 148; Calculator 149-3; Alarm clock 149-4; Dictionary 149-5; and User-created widget 149-6.

In some embodiments, user interface 400B includes the following elements, or a subset or superset thereof:

402, 404, 406, 141, 148, 144, 143, 149-3, 149-2, 149-1, 149-4, 410, 414, 138, 140, and 147, as described above;

Map 154;

Notes 153;

Settings 412, which provides access to settings for the device 100 and its various applications 136, as described further below; and

Video and music player module 152, also referred to as iPod (trademark of Apple Computer, Inc.) module 152.

In some embodiments, UI 400A or 400B displays all of the available applications 136 on one screen so that there is no need to scroll through a list of applications (e.g., via a scroll bar or a gesture). In some embodiments, as the number of applications increase, the icons corresponding to the applications may decrease in size so that all applications may be displayed on a single screen without scrolling. In some embodiments, having all applications on one screen and a menu button enables a user to access any desired application with at most two inputs, such as activating the menu button 204 and then activating the desired application (e.g., by a tap or other finger gesture on the icon corresponding to the application).

In some embodiments, UI 400A or 400B provides integrated access to both widget-based applications and non-widget-based applications. In some embodiments, all of the widgets, whether user-created or not, are displayed in UI 400A or 400B. In other embodiments, activating the icon for user-created widget 149-6 may lead to another UI that contains the user-created widgets or icons corresponding to the user-created widgets.

In some embodiments, a user may rearrange the icons in UI 400A or 400B, e.g., using processes described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/459,602, “Portable Electronic Device With Interface Reconfiguration Mode,” filed Jul. 24, 2006, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. For example, a user may move application icons in and out of tray 408 using finger gestures.

In some embodiments, UI 400A or 400B includes a gauge (not shown) that displays an updated account usage metric for an account associated with usage of the device (e.g., a cellular phone account), as described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/322,552, “Account Information Display For Portable Communication Device,” filed Dec. 23, 2005, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

FIG. 5 illustrates an exemplary user interface for listing instant message conversations on a portable multifunction device in accordance with some embodiments. In some embodiments, user interface 500 includes the following elements, or a subset or superset thereof:

402, 404, and 406, as described above;

“Instant Messages” or other similar label 502:

Names 504 of the people a user is having instant message conversations with (e.g., Jane Doe 504-1) or the phone number if the person's name is not available (e.g., 408-123-4567 504-3);

Text 506 of the last message in the conversation;

Date 508 and/or time of the last message in the conversation;

Selection icon 510 that when activated (e.g., by a finger tap on the icon) initiates transition to a UI for the corresponding conversation (e.g., FIG. 6A for Jane Doe 504-1);

Edit icon 512 that when activated (e.g., by a finger tap on the icon) initiates transition to a UI for deleting conversations;

Create message icon 514 that when activated (e.g., by a finger tap on the icon) initiates transition to the users contact list (e.g., FIG. 7A); and

Vertical bar 516 that helps a user understand what portion of the list of instant message conversations is being displayed.

In some embodiments, the name 504 used for an instant message conversation is determined by finding an entry in the user's contact list 137 that contains the phone number used for the instant message conversation. If no such entry is found, then just the phone number is displayed (e.g., 504-3). In some embodiments, if the other party sends messages from two or more different phone numbers, the messages may appear as a single conversation under a single name if all of the phone numbers used are found in the same entry (i.e., the entry for the other party) in the user's contact list 137.

Automatically grouping the instant messages into “conversations” (instant message exchanges with the same user or the same phone number) makes it easier for the user to carry on and keep track of instant message exchanges with multiple parties.

In some embodiments, vertical bar 516 is displayed temporarily after an object is detected on or near the touch screen display (e.g., a finger touch is detected anywhere on the list of instant message conversations). In some embodiments, the vertical bar 516 has a vertical position on top of the displayed portion of the list that corresponds to the vertical position in the list of the displayed portion of the list. In some embodiments, the vertical bar 516 has a vertical length that corresponds to the portion of the list being displayed. In some embodiments, if the entire list of IM conversations can be displayed simultaneously on the touch screen 112, the vertical bar 516 is not displayed. In some embodiments, if the entire list of IM conversations can be displayed simultaneously on the touch screen 112, the vertical bar 516 is displayed with a length that corresponds to the length of the list display area (e.g., as shown in FIG. 5).

FIGS. 6A-6K illustrate an exemplary user interface for inputting text for an instant message in accordance with some embodiments.

In some embodiments, user interface 600A includes the following elements, or a subset or superset thereof:

402, 404, and 406, as described above;

Name 504 corresponding to the phone number used in the instant message conversation (or the phone number itself if the name is not available);

Instant messages icon 602 that when activated (e.g., by a finger tap on the icon) initiates transition to a UI listing instant message conversations (e.g., UI 500);

Instant messages 604 from the other party, typically listed in order along one side of UI 600A;

Instant messages 606 to the other party, typically listed in order along the opposite side of UI 600A to show the back and forth interplay of messages in the conversation;

Timestamps 608 for at least some of the instant messages;

Text entry box 612;

Send icon 614 that when activated (e.g., by a finger tap on the icon) initiates sending of the message in text box 612 to the other party (e.g., Jane Doe 504-1);

Letter keyboard 616 for entering text in box 612;

Alternate keyboard selector icon 618 that when activated (e.g., by a finger tap on the icon) initiates the display of a different keyboard (e.g., 624, FIG. 6C);

Send icon 620 that when activated (e.g., by a finger tap on the icon) initiates sending of the message in text box 612 to the other party (e.g., Jane Doe 504-1);

Shift key 628 that when activated (e.g., by a finger tap on the icon) capitalizes the next letter chosen on letter keyboard 616; and

Vertical bar 630 that helps a user understand what portion of the list of instant messages in an IM conversation is being displayed.

In some embodiments, a user can scroll through the message conversation (comprised of messages 604 and 606) by applying a vertical swipe gesture 610 to the area displaying the conversation. In some embodiments, a vertically downward gesture scrolls the conversation downward, thereby showing older messages in the conversation. In some embodiments, a vertically upward gesture scrolls the conversation upward, thereby showing newer, more recent messages in the conversation. In some embodiments, as noted above, the last message in the conversation (e.g., 606-2) is displayed in the list of instant messages 500 (e.g., 506-1).

In some embodiments, keys in keyboards 616 (FIGS. 6A, 6B, 6E-6K), 624 (FIG. 6C), and/or 639 (FIG. 6D) briefly change shade and/or color when touched/activated by a user to help the user learn to activate the desired keys.

In some embodiments, vertical bar 630 is displayed temporarily after an object is detected on or near the touch screen display (e.g., a finger touch is detected anywhere on the list of instant messages). In some embodiments, the vertical bar 630 has a vertical position on top of the displayed portion of the list that corresponds to the vertical position in the list of the displayed portion of the list. In some embodiments, the vertical bar 630 has a vertical length that corresponds to the portion of the list being displayed. For example, in FIG. 6A, the vertical position of the vertical bar 630 indicates that the bottom of the list of messages is being displayed (which correspond to the most recent messages) and the vertical length of the vertical bar 630 indicates that roughly half of the messages in the conversation are being displayed.

In some embodiments, user interface 600B includes the following elements, or a subset or superset thereof:

402, 404, 406, 504, 602, 604, 606, 608, 612, 614, 616, 618, 620, and 630 as described above; and

word suggestion area 622 that provides a list of possible words to complete the word fragment being typed by the user in box 612.

In some embodiments, the word suggestion area does not appear in UI 600B until after a predefined time delay (e.g., 2-3 seconds) in text being entered by the user. In some embodiments, the word suggestion area is not used or can be turned off by the user.

In some embodiments, user interface 600C includes the following elements, or a subset or superset thereof:

402, 404, 406, 602, 604, 606, 608, 612, 614, 620, and 622 as described above;

Alternate keyboard 624, which may be made up primarily of digits and punctuation, with frequently used punctuation keys (e.g., period key 631, comma key 633, question mark key 635, and exclamation point key 637) made larger than the other keys;

Letter keyboard selector icon 626 that when activated (e.g., by a finger tap on the icon) initiates the display of a letter keyboard (e.g., 616, FIG. 6A); and

Shift key 628 that when activated (e.g., by a finger tap on the icon) initiates display of yet another keyboard (e.g., 639, FIG. 6D).

In some embodiments, keeping the period key 631 near keyboard selector icon 626 reduces the distance that a user's finger needs to travel to enter the oft-used period.

In some embodiments, user interface 600D includes the following elements, or a subset or superset thereof:

402, 404, 406, 504, 602, 604, 606, 608, 612, 614, 620, 622, 626, 628 as described above; and

Another alternate keyboard 639, which may be made up primarily of symbols and punctuation, with frequently used punctuation keys (e.g., period key 631, comma key 633, question mark key 635, and exclamation point key 637) made larger than the other keys.

In some embodiments, user interface 600E includes the following elements, or a subset or superset thereof:

402, 404, 406, 504, 602, 604, 606, 608, 612, 614, 616, 618, and 620, as described above; and

New instant message 606-3 sent to the other party.

In some embodiments, when the user activates a send key (e.g., either 614 or 620), the text in text box 612 “pops” or otherwise comes out of the box and becomes part of the string of user messages 606 to the other party. The black arrows in FIG. 6E illustrate an animated formation of a quote bubble 606-3. In some embodiments, the size of the quote bubble scales with the size of the message. In some embodiments, a sound is also made when the message is sent, such as a droplet sound, to notify the user.

In some embodiments, user interface 600F includes the following elements, or a subset or superset thereof:

402, 404, 406, 612, 614, 616, 618, 620, and 628, as described above;

Recipient input field 632 that when activated (e.g., by a finger tap on the field) receives and displays the phone number of the recipient of the instant message (or the recipient's name if the recipient is already in the user's contact list);

Add recipient icon 634 that when activated (e.g., by a finger tap on the icon) initiates the display of a scrollable list of contacts (e.g., 638, FIG. 6G); and

Cancel icon 636 that when activated (e.g., by a finger tap on the icon) cancels the new instant message.

In some embodiments, user interface 600G includes the following elements, or a subset or superset thereof:

402, 404, 406, 612, 614, 616, 618, 620, 628, 632, 634, and 636, as described above;

Scrollable list 638 of contacts that match the input in recipient input field 632; and

Vertical bar 640 that helps a user understand how many items in the contact list that match the input in recipient input field 632 are being displayed.

In some embodiments, list 638 contains contacts that match the input in recipient input field 632. For example, if the letter “v” is input, then contacts with either a first name or last name beginning with “v” are shown. If the letters “va” are input in field 632, then the list of contacts is narrowed to contacts with either a first name or last name beginning with “va”, and so on until one of the displayed contacts is selected (e.g., by a tap on a contact in the list 638).

In some embodiments, a user can scroll through the list 638 by applying a vertical swipe gesture 642 to the area displaying the list 638. In some embodiments, a vertically downward gesture scrolls the list downward and a vertically upward gesture scrolls the list upward.

In some embodiments, vertical bar 640 is displayed temporarily after an object is detected on or near the touch screen display (e.g., a finger touch is detected anywhere on the list 638). In some embodiments, the vertical bar 640 has a vertical position on top of the displayed portion of the list that corresponds to the vertical position in the list of the displayed portion of the list. In some embodiments, the vertical bar 640 has a vertical length that corresponds to the portion of the list being displayed.

In some embodiments, user interfaces 600H and 6001 include the following elements, or a subset or superset thereof:

402, 404, 406, 612, 614, 616, 618, 620, 628, 632, 634, and 636, as described above;

Suggested word 644 adjacent to the word being input;

Suggested word 646 in the space bar in keyboard 616; and/or

Insertion marker 656 (e.g., a cursor, insertion bar, insertion point, or pointer).

In some embodiments, activating suggested word 644 (e.g., by a finger tap on the suggested word) replaces the word being typed with the suggested word 644. In some embodiments, activating suggested word 646 (e.g., by a finger tap on the space bar) replaces the word being typed with the suggested word 646. In some embodiments, a user can set whether suggested words 644 and/or 646 are shown (e.g., by setting a user preference).

In some embodiments, a letter is enlarged briefly after it is selected (e.g., “N” is enlarged briefly after typing “din” in FIG. 6H) to provide feedback to the user.

In some embodiments, user interfaces 600J and 600K include the following elements, or a subset or superset thereof:

402, 404, 406, 612, 614, 616, 618, 620, 628, 632, 634, 636, and 656 as described above; and

Expanded portion 650 of graphics that helps a user adjust the position of an expanded insertion marker 657 (sometimes called an “insertion point magnifier”); and

Expanded insertion marker 657.

In some embodiments, a finger contact 648-1 on or near the insertion marker 656 initiates display of insertion point magnifier 650 and expanded insertion marker 657-1. In some embodiments, as the finger contact is moved on the touch screen (e.g., to position 648-2), there is corresponding motion of the expanded insertion marker (e.g., to 657-2) and the insertion point magnifier 650. Thus, the insertion point magnifier 650 provides an efficient way to position a cursor or other insertion marker using finger input on the touch screen. In some embodiments, the magnifier 650 remains visible and can be repositioned as long as continuous contact is maintained with the touch screen (e.g., from 648-1 to 648-2 to even 648-3).

In some embodiments, a portable electronic device displays graphics and an insertion marker (e.g., marker 656, FIG. 6I) at a first location in the graphics on a touch screen display (e.g., FIG. 6I). In some embodiments, the insertion marker 656 is a cursor, insertion bar, insertion point, or pointer. In some embodiments, the graphics comprise text (e.g., text in box 612, FIG. 6I).

A finger contact is detected with the touch screen display (e.g., contact 648-1, FIG. 6I). In some embodiments, the location of the finger contact is proximate to the location of the insertion marker. In some embodiments, the location of the finger contact is anywhere within a text entry area (e.g., box 612, FIG. 6I).

In response to the detected finger contact, the insertion marker is expanded from a first size (e.g., marker 656, FIG. 6I) to a second size (e.g., marker 657-1, FIG. 6J) on the touch screen display, and a portion (e.g., portion 650-1, FIG. 6J) of the graphics on the touch screen display is expanded from an original size to an expanded size.

In some embodiments, the portion of the graphics that is expanded includes the insertion marker and adjacent graphics. In some embodiments, after the insertion point and the portion of the graphics are expanded, graphics are displayed that include the insertion marker and adjacent graphics at the original size and at the expanded size.

Movement of the finger contact is detected on the touch screen display (e.g., from 648-1 to 648-2, FIG. 6J).

The expanded insertion marker is moved in accordance with the detected movement of the finger contact from the first location (e.g., 657-1, FIG. 6J) to a second location in the graphics (e.g., 657-2, FIG. 6J).

In some embodiments, the portion of the graphics that is expanded changes as the insertion marker moves from the first location to the second location (e.g., from 650-1 to 650-2, FIG. 6J). In some embodiments, the portion of the graphics that is expanded is displayed in a predefined shape. In some embodiments the portion (e.g., 650, FIG. 6J) of the graphics that is expanded is displayed in a circle. In some embodiments, the expanded insertion marker 657 is within the circle.

In some embodiments, the detected movement of the finger contact has a horizontal component on the touch screen display and a vertical component on the touch screen display. In some embodiments, moving the expanded insertion marker 657 in accordance with the detected movement of the finger contact includes moving the expanded insertion marker and the expanded portion of the graphics in accordance with the horizontal component of motion of the finger contact if the finger contact moves outside a text entry area without breaking contact. For example, in FIG. 6I, if the finger contact moves from 648-2 (inside the text entry area 612) to 648-3 (in the keyboard area), the expanded insertion point 657 and the expanded portion 650 of the graphics may move horizontally along the lower portion of the text entry area in accordance with the horizontal component of the movement from 648-2 to 648-3 (not shown).

In some embodiments, moving the expanded insertion marker in accordance with the detected movement of the finger contact includes moving the expanded insertion marker in a first area of the touch screen that includes characters entered using a soft keyboard (e.g., text box 612, FIG. 6J), wherein the soft keyboard is located in a second area of the touch screen that is separate from the first area (e.g., keyboard 616, FIG. 6J).

In some embodiments, the expanded insertion marker is contracted from the second size to the first size if finger contact with the touch screen display is broken (e.g., insertion marker 656, FIG. 6K). In some embodiments, the contracting includes an animation of the expanded insertion marker 657 shrinking into the insertion marker 656 at the second location.

In some embodiments, the expanded portion 650 of the graphics is contracted if finger contact with the touch screen display is no longer detected for a predetermined time.

A graphical user interface on a portable electronic device with a touch screen display comprises an insertion marker and graphics. In response to detecting a finger contact 648 with the touch screen display, the insertion marker is expanded from a first size 656 to a second size 657, and a portion 650 of the graphics is expanded. In response to detecting movement of the finger contact on the touch screen display, the expanded insertion marker is moved in accordance with the detected movement of the finger contact from a first location 657-1 in the graphics to a second location 657-2 in the graphics.

Additional description of insertion marker positioning can be found in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/553,436, “Method, System, And Graphical User Interface For Positioning An Insertion Marker In A Touch Screen Display,” filed Oct. 26, 2006, the content of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

Additional description of instant messaging on portable electronic devices can be found in U.S. Patent Application No. 60/883,819, “Portable Electronic Device For Instant Messaging,” filed Jan. 7, 2007, the content of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

FIGS. 7A and 7B illustrate an exemplary user interface for a contact list in accordance with some embodiments.

In some embodiments, user interfaces 800A and 800B (FIGS. 7A and 7B) include the following elements, or a subset or superset thereof:

402, 404, 406, as described above;

Groups icon 802 that when activated (e.g., by a finger tap on the icon) initiates display of groups of contacts;

First name icon 804 that when activated (e.g., by a finger tap on the icon) initiates an alphabetical display of the user's contacts by their first names (FIG. 7B);

Last name icon 806 that when activated (e.g., by a finger tap on the icon) initiates an alphabetical display of the user's contacts by their last names (FIG. 7A);

Alphabet list icons 808 that the user can touch to quickly arrive at a particular first letter in the displayed contact list;

Cancel icon 810 that when activated (e.g., by a finger tap on the icon) initiates transfer back to the previous UI (e.g., UI 500, FIG. 5); and

Other number icon 812 that when activated (e.g., by a finger tap on the icon) initiates transfer to a UI for entering a phone number for instant messaging, such as a phone number that is not in the user's contact list.

In some embodiments, the functions of first name icon 804 and last name icon 806 are incorporated into settings 412 (FIG. 4B, e.g., as a user preference setting) rather than being displayed in a contacts list UI (e.g., 800A and 800B, FIGS. 7A and 7B).

As described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/322,547, “Scrolling List With Floating Adjacent Index Symbols,” filed Dec. 23, 2005; Ser. No. 11/322,551, “Continuous Scrolling List With Acceleration,” filed Dec. 23, 2005; and Ser. No. 11/322,553, “List Scrolling In Response To Moving Contact Over List Of Index Symbols,” filed Dec. 23, 2005, which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety, the user may scroll through the contact list using vertically upward and/or vertically downward gestures 814 on the touch screen.

FIG. 8 illustrates an exemplary user interface for a camera in accordance with some embodiments. In some embodiments, user interface 1000 (FIG. 8) includes the following elements, or a subset or superset thereof:

Viewfinder 1002;

Camera roll 1004 that manages images and/or videos taken with the camera;

Shutter 1006 for taking still images;

Record button 1008 for starting and stopping video recording;

Timer 1010 for taking an image after a predefined time delay; and

Image 1012 that appears (e.g., via the animation illustrated schematically in FIG. 8) to be added to camera roll 1004 when it is obtained.

In some embodiments, the orientation of the camera in the shutter icon 1006 rotates as the device 100 is rotated between portrait and landscape orientations.

FIG. 9 illustrates an exemplary user interface for a camera roll in accordance with some embodiments. In some embodiments, user interface 1100 (FIG. 9) includes the following elements, or a subset or superset thereof:

402, 404, and 406, as described above;

Thumbnail images 1102 of images and/or videos obtained by camera 143;

Camera icon 1104 or done icon 1110 that when activated (e.g., by a finger tap on the icon) initiates transfer to the camera UI (e.g., UI 1000); and

Vertical bar 1112 that helps a user understand what portion of the camera roll is being displayed.

In some embodiments, the user may scroll through the thumbnails 1102 using vertically upward and/or vertically downward gestures 1106 on the touch screen. In some embodiments, a stationary gesture on a particular thumbnail (e.g., a tap gesture 1108 on thumbnail 1102-11) initiates transfer to an enlarged display of the corresponding image (e.g., UI 1200A, FIG. 10A).

In some embodiments, vertical bar 1112 is displayed temporarily after an object is detected on or near the touch screen display (e.g., a finger touch is detected anywhere on the thumbnails 1102). In some embodiments, the vertical bar 1112 has a vertical position on top of the displayed portion of the camera roll that corresponds to the vertical position in the camera roll of the displayed portion of the camera roll. In some embodiments, the vertical bar 1112 has a vertical length that corresponds to the portion of the camera roll being displayed. For example, in FIG. 9, the vertical position of the vertical bar 1112 indicates that the middle of the camera roll is being displayed and the vertical length of the vertical bar 1112 indicates that roughly half of the images in the camera roll are being displayed.

FIGS. 10A-10C illustrate an exemplary user interface for viewing and manipulating acquired images in accordance with some embodiments.

In some embodiments, user interface 1200A (FIG. 10A) includes the following elements, or a subset or superset thereof:

402, 404, 406, 1104, and 1110, as described above;

Camera roll icon 1202 that when activated (e.g., by a finger tap on the icon) initiates transfer to the camera roll UI (e.g., UI 1100, FIG. 9);

Image 1204;

Additional options icon 1206 that when activated (e.g., by a finger tap on the icon) initiates transfer to a UI with additional options for use of image 1204;

Previous image icon 1208 that when activated (e.g., by a finger tap on the icon) initiates display of the previous image in the camera roll (e.g., 1102-10);

Play icon 1210 that when activated (e.g., by a finger tap on the icon) initiates a slide show of the images in the camera roll;

Next image icon 1212 that when activated (e.g., by a finger tap on the icon) initiates display of the next image in the camera roll (e.g., 1102-12);

Delete symbol icon 1214 that when activated (e.g., by a finger tap on the icon) initiates display of a UI to confirm that the user wants to delete image 1204 (e.g. UI 1200B, FIG. 10B);

Vertical bar 1222 that helps a user understand what portion of the image 1204 is being displayed; and

Horizontal bar 1224 that helps a user understand what portion of the image 1204 is being displayed.

In some embodiments, the user can also initiate viewing of the previous image by making a tap gesture 1216 on the left side of the image. In some embodiments, the user can also initiate viewing of the previous image by making a swipe gesture 1220 from left to right on the image.

In some embodiments, the user can also initiate viewing of the next image by making a tap gesture 1218 on the right side of the image. In some embodiments, the user can also initiate viewing of the next image by making a swipe gesture 1220 from right to left on the image.

By offering multiple ways to perform the same task (e.g., to view the next image by tapping icon 1212, tap 1218, or right to left swipe 1220), the user can choose whichever way the user prefers, thereby making the UI simpler and more intuitive for the user.

In some embodiments, image 1204 moves off screen to the left as the next image moves on screen from the right. In some embodiments, image 1204 moves off screen to the right as the previous image moves on screen from the left.

In some embodiments, a tap gesture such as 1216 or 1218 magnifies the image 1204 by a predetermined amount, rather than initiating viewing of another image, so that just a portion of image 1204 is displayed. In some embodiments, when the image is already magnified, repeating the tap gesture demagnifies the image (e.g., so that the entire image is displayed).

In some embodiments, if just a portion of image 1204 is displayed, vertical bar 1222 is displayed temporarily after an object is detected on or near the touch screen display (e.g., a finger touch is detected anywhere on the image 1204). In some embodiments, the vertical bar 1222 has a vertical position on top of the displayed portion of the image that corresponds to the vertical position in the image of the displayed portion of the image. In some embodiments, the vertical bar 1222 has a vertical length that corresponds to the portion of the image being displayed. For example, in FIG. 10A, the vertical position of the vertical bar 1222 indicates that the top of the image is being displayed and the vertical length of the vertical bar 1222 indicates that a portion from the top half of the image is being displayed.

In some embodiments, if just a portion of image 1204 is displayed, horizontal bar 1224 is displayed temporarily after an object is detected on or near the touch screen display (e.g., a finger touch is detected anywhere on the image 1204). In some embodiments, the horizontal bar 1224 has a horizontal position on top of the displayed portion of the image that corresponds to the horizontal position in the image of the displayed portion of the image. In some embodiments, the horizontal bar 1224 has a horizontal length that corresponds to the portion of the image being displayed. For example, in FIG. 10A, the horizontal position of the horizontal bar 1224 indicates that a portion of the right side of the image is being displayed and the horizontal length of the horizontal bar 1224 indicates that a portion from the right half of the image is being displayed. Together, vertical bar 1222 and horizontal bar 1224 indicate that the northeast quadrant of the image 1204 is being displayed.

In some embodiments, user interface 1200B (FIG. 10B) includes the following elements, or a subset or superset thereof:

402, 404, 406, 1104, 1110, 1202, and 1204, as described above;

Delete icon 1216 that when activated (e.g., by a finger tap on the icon) deletes the image 1204; and

Cancel icon 1218 that when activated (e.g., by a finger tap on the icon) returns the device to the previous user interface (e.g. UI 1200A, FIG. 10A)

In some embodiments, as illustrated in FIG. 10C, the image may go through a deletion animation to show the user that the image is being deleted.

This deletion process, which requires gestures by the user on two different user interfaces (e.g., 1200A and 1200B, FIGS. 10A and 10B), greatly reduces the chance that a user will accidentally delete an image or other similar item.

FIGS. 11A and 11B illustrate exemplary user interfaces for viewing albums in accordance with some embodiments. In some embodiments, user interface 1300A (FIG. 11A) includes the following elements, or a subset or superset thereof:

402, 404, and 406, as described above;

Graphics 1304, e.g., thumbnail images of the first picture or a user-selected picture in the corresponding albums;

Album names 1306;

Selection icons 1308 that when activated (e.g., by a finger tap on the icon) initiates display of the corresponding album (e.g., UI 1500, FIG. 12);

Settings icon 1310, that brings up a settings menu when activated by a user gesture (e.g., a tap gesture); and

Vertical bar 1314 that helps a user understand what portion of the list of albums is being displayed.

In some embodiments, as shown in FIG. 11B, one of the photo albums (e.g., 1306-7) may correspond to the user's photo library; another album (e.g., 1306-8) may correspond to the camera roll (FIG. 9); another album (e.g., 1306-9) may correspond to images added to the photo library in the last 12 months; and other albums (e.g., 1306-10-1306-13) may correspond to albums created and organized by the user.

The albums may be downloaded on to the device from a wide range of sources, such as the user's desktop or laptop computer, the Internet, etc.

If there is a long list of albums that fill more than the screen area, the user may scroll through the list using vertically upward and/or vertically downward gestures 1312 on the touch screen.

In some embodiments, a user may tap anywhere in the row for a particular album (e.g., a tap on the graphic 1304, album name 1306, or selection icon 1308) to initiate display of the corresponding album (e.g., UI 1500, FIG. 12).

In some embodiments, vertical bar 1314 is displayed temporarily after an object is detected on or near the touch screen display (e.g., a finger touch is detected anywhere on the list of albums). In some embodiments, the vertical bar 1314 has a vertical position on top of the displayed portion of the list that corresponds to the vertical position in the list of the displayed portion of the list. In some embodiments, the vertical bar 1314 has a vertical length that corresponds to the portion of the list being displayed. For example, in FIG. 11B, the vertical position of the vertical bar 1314 indicates that the top of the list of albums is being displayed and the vertical length of the vertical bar 1314 indicates that roughly half of the albums in the list are being displayed.

FIG. 12 illustrates an exemplary user interface for viewing an album in accordance with some embodiments. In some embodiments, user interface 1500 (FIG. 12) includes the following elements, or a subset or superset thereof:

402, 404, and 406, as described above;

Photo albums icon 1502 that when activated (e.g., by a finger tap on the icon) initiates transfer to the photo albums UI (e.g., UI 1300B, FIG. 11B);

Thumbnail images 1506 of images in the corresponding album;

Play icon 1508 that when activated (e.g., by a finger tap on the icon) initiates a slide show of the images in the album; and

Vertical bar 1514 that helps a user understand what portion of the list of thumbnail images 1506 in an album is being displayed.

In some embodiments, the user may scroll through the thumbnails 1506 using vertically upward and/or vertically downward gestures 1510 on the touch screen. In some embodiments, a stationary gesture on a particular thumbnail (e.g., a tap gesture 1512 on thumbnail 1506-11) initiates transfer to an enlarged display of the corresponding image (e.g., UI 1600A and 1600B, FIGS. 13A and 13B).

In some embodiments, vertical bar 1514 is displayed temporarily after an object is detected on or near the touch screen display (e.g., a finger touch is detected anywhere on the list of thumbnails). In some embodiments, the vertical bar 1514 has a vertical position on top of the displayed portion of the list that corresponds to the vertical position in the list of the displayed portion of the list. In some embodiments, the vertical bar 1514 has a vertical length that corresponds to the portion of the list being displayed. For example, in FIG. 12, the vertical position of the vertical bar 1514 indicates that the middle of the list of thumbnails is being displayed and the vertical length of the vertical bar 1514 indicates that roughly half of the thumbnails in the album are being displayed.

FIGS. 13A and 13B illustrate exemplary user interfaces for viewing images in an album in accordance with some embodiments. In some embodiments, user interfaces 1600A and 1600B (FIGS. 13A and 13B) include the following elements, or a subset or superset thereof:

402, 404, and 406, as described above;

Album name icon 1602 that when activated (e.g., by a finger tap on the icon) initiates transfer to the corresponding album UI (e.g., UI 1500, FIG. 12);

Image 1606;

Additional options icon 1608 that when activated (e.g., by a finger tap on the icon) initiates transfer to a UI with additional options for use of image 1606;

Previous image icon 1610 that when activated (e.g., by a finger tap on the icon) initiates display of the previous image in the album (e.g., 1506-10);

Play icon 1612 that when activated (e.g., by a finger tap on the icon) initiates a slide show of the images in the album; and

Next image icon 1614 that when activated (e.g., by a finger tap on the icon) initiates display of the next image in the album (e.g., 1506-12).

In some embodiments, icons 1608, 1610, 1612, and 1614 are displayed in response to detecting a gesture on the touch screen (e.g., a single finger tap on the image 1606) and then cease to be displayed if no interaction with the touch screen is detected after a predetermined time (e.g., 3-5 seconds), thereby providing a “heads up display” effect for these icons.

In some embodiments, the user can also initiate viewing of the previous image by making a tap gesture 1618 on the left side of the image. In some embodiments, the user can also initiate viewing of the previous image by making a swipe gesture 1616 from left to right on the image.

In some embodiments, the user can also initiate viewing of the next image by making a tap gesture 1620 on the right side of the image. In some embodiments, the user can also initiate viewing of the next image by making a swipe gesture 1616 from right to left on the image.

By offering multiple ways to perform the same task (e.g., to view the next image by tapping icon 1614, tap 1620, or right to left swipe 1616), the user can choose whichever way the user prefers, thereby making the UI simpler and more intuitive for the user.

In some embodiments, image 1606 moves off screen to the left as the next image moves on screen from the right. In some embodiments, image 1606 moves off screen to the right as the previous image moves on screen from the left.

In some embodiments, a double tap gesture such as 1618 or 1620 magnifies the image 1606 by a predetermined amount, rather than initiating viewing of another image, so that just a portion of image 1606 is displayed. In some embodiments, when the image is already magnified, repeating the double tap gesture demagnifies the image (e.g., so that the entire image is displayed).

In some embodiments, a multi-finger de-pinching gesture magnifies the image 1606 by a variable amount in accordance with the position of the multi-finger de-pinching gesture and the amount of finger movement in the multi-finger de-pinching gesture. In some embodiments, a multi-finger pinching gesture demagnifies the image 1606 by a variable amount in accordance with the position of the multi-finger pinching gesture and the amount of finger movement in the multi-finger pinching gesture.

In some embodiments, if just a portion of image 1606 is displayed, vertical bar 1622 is displayed temporarily after an object is detected on or near the touch screen display (e.g., a finger touch is detected anywhere on the image 1606). In some embodiments, the vertical bar 1622 has a vertical position on top of the displayed portion of the image that corresponds to the vertical position in the image of the displayed portion of the image. In some embodiments, the vertical bar 1622 has a vertical length that corresponds to the portion of the image being displayed. For example, in FIG. 13A, the vertical position of the vertical bar 1622 indicates that the bottom of the image is being displayed and the vertical length of the vertical bar 1622 indicates that a portion from the bottom half of the image is being displayed.

In some embodiments, if just a portion of image 1606 is displayed, horizontal bar 1624 is displayed temporarily after an object is detected on or near the touch screen display (e.g., a finger touch is detected anywhere on the image 1606). In some embodiments, the horizontal bar 1624 has a horizontal position on top of the displayed portion of the image that corresponds to the horizontal position in the image of the displayed portion of the image. In some embodiments, the horizontal bar 1624 has a horizontal length that corresponds to the portion of the image being displayed. For example, in FIG. 13A, the horizontal position of the horizontal bar 1224 indicates that a portion of the left side of the image is being displayed and the horizontal length of the horizontal bar 1624 indicates that a portion from the left half of the image is being displayed. Together, vertical bar 1622 and horizontal bar 1624 indicate that the southwest quadrant of the image 1606 is being displayed.

In some embodiments, in response to detecting a change in orientation of the device 100 from a portrait orientation to a landscape orientation (e.g., using accelerometer 168), UI 1600A (including image 1606) is rotated by 90.degree. to UI 1600B (FIG. 13B). In some embodiments, if just a portion of image 1606 is displayed in landscape orientation (UI 1600B, FIG. 13B), vertical bar 1628 and horizontal bar 1630 are displayed and act in an analogous manner to vertical bar 1622 and horizontal bar 1624 (UI 1600A, FIG. 13A), described above. In some embodiments, in response to detecting a change in orientation of the device 100 from a landscape orientation to a portrait orientation (e.g., using accelerometer 168), the UI 1600B is rotated by 90.degree. to UI 1600A (FIG. 13A).

In some embodiments, if just a portion of image 1606 is displayed, in response to detecting a finger drag or swipe gesture (e.g., 1626), the displayed portion of the image is translated in accordance with the direction of the drag or swipe gesture (e.g., vertical, horizontal, or diagonal translation).

FIGS. 14A-14C illustrate an exemplary user interface for organizing and managing videos in accordance with some embodiments.

In some embodiments, in response to a series of gestures (e.g., finger taps) by the user, the device displays a series of video categories and sub-categories. For example, if the user activates selection icon 2101 (e.g., by a finger tap on the icon) or, in some embodiments, taps anywhere in the Playlists row 2108, the UI changes from a display of video categories (UI 2100A, FIG. 14A) to a display of Playlist sub-categories (UI 2100B, FIG. 14B). In turn, if the user activates the selection icon for My Movies (e.g., by a finger tap on the icon) or, in some embodiments, taps anywhere in the My Movies row 2110, the UI changes from a display of Playlist sub-categories (UI 2100B, FIG. 14B) to a display of My Movies sub-categories (UI 2100C, FIG. 14C), and so forth.

In some embodiments, in response to a series of gestures (e.g., finger taps) by the user, the device navigates back up through the hierarchy of video categories and sub-categories. For example, if the user activates Playlists icon 2106 (e.g., by a finger tap on the icon), the UI changes from a display of My Movies sub-categories (UI 2100C, FIG. 14C) to a display of Playlist sub-categories (UI 2100B, FIG. 14B). In turn, if the user activates the Videos icon 2104 (e.g., by a finger tap on the icon), the UI changes from a display of Playlist sub-categories (UI 2100B, FIG. 14B) to a display of video categories (UI 2100A, FIG. 14A).

In some embodiments, in response to user selection of a particular video (e.g., by a tap or other predefined gesture on the graphic, title, or anywhere 2112 (FIG. 14C) in the row for a particular video), the device displays the selected video (e.g., King Kong) in a video player UI.

In some embodiments, in response to user selection of settings icon 2102 (e.g., by a finger tap on the icon), the device displays a settings UI for a video player.

FIGS. 15A-15D illustrate an exemplary user interface for displaying and managing recent calls in accordance with some embodiments.

In some embodiments, in response to the user activating All icon 2810, the touch screen displays a list of all recent calls (e.g., UI 2800A, FIG. 15A). In some embodiments, in response to the user activating Missed icon 2812, the touch screen displays a list of recent missed calls (e.g., UI 2800B, FIG. 15B).

In some embodiments, each row in a list corresponds to a call or a consecutive sequence of calls involving the same person or the same number (without an intervening call involving another person or another phone number). In some embodiments, each row includes: the name 2802 of the other party (if available via the contact module) or the phone number (if the name of the other party is not available); the number 2804 of consecutive calls; the date and/or time 2806 of the last call; and an additional information icon 2808. In some embodiments, in response to the user activating icon 2808 for a particular row (e.g., by a finger tap on the icon), the touch screen displays the corresponding contact list entry for the other party (e.g., UI 2800C, FIG. 15C) or UI 2800D (FIG. 15D) if the phone number cannot be associated with an entry in the user's contact list. In some embodiments, in response to a user tap or other predefined gesture elsewhere (i.e., a tap or gesture other than on icon 2808) in a given row, the phone module dials the corresponding phone number for that row.

In some embodiments, some rows may include icons indicating whether the last call associated with the row was missed or answered.

If the list of recent calls fills more than the screen area, the user may scroll through the list using vertically upward and/or vertically downward gestures 2814 on the touch screen.

In some embodiments, UI 2800C (FIG. 15C) highlights (e.g., with color, shading, and/or bolding) the phone number associated with the recent call (e.g., the two recent incoming calls from Bruce Walker in UI 2800A, FIG. 15A, came from Bruce Walker's work number 2816). In some embodiments, in response to a user tap or other predefined gesture on the highlighted number 2816, the phone module dials the highlighted number (e.g., 2816). In some embodiments, in response to a user tap or other predefined gesture on another number in the contact list entry (e.g., home number 2818), the phone module dials the corresponding number. In some embodiments, in response to a user tap or other predefined gesture on an email address in the contact list entry (e.g., either work email 2820 or home email 2822), the mail module prepares an email message with the selected email address, ready for text input by the user. Thus, by selecting icon 2808 (FIG. 15A), the user may then easily respond to a caller using the same number involved in the previous call (e.g., 2816), another number associated with the same caller (e.g., 2818), or another mode of communication besides the phone (e.g., an email to the caller's work 2820 or home 2822 email address).

In some embodiments, UI 2800D (FIG. 15D) provides one or more options for a user to make use of a phone number in a recent call that is not associated with an entry in the user's contact list. In some embodiments, in response to a tap or other predefined user gesture, the device may: call the phone number (e.g., if the gesture is applied to icon 2824); initiate creation of a text message or other instant message to the phone number (e.g., if the gesture is applied to icon 2825); create a new contact with the phone number (e.g., if the gesture is applied to icon 2826); or add the phone number to an existing contact (e.g., if the gesture is applied to icon 2828).

In some embodiments, in response to detecting a gesture on the clear icon 2832 (e.g., a single finger tap on the icon 2832), one or more recent calls selected by the user are deleted from the list of recent calls.

Additional description of missed call management can be found in U.S. Patent Application No. 60/883,782, “Telephone Call Management For A Portable Multifunction Device,” filed Jan. 6, 2007, the content of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

FIGS. 16A-16D illustrate exemplary user interfaces for voicemail in accordance with some embodiments. In some embodiments, user interfaces 3200A-3200D (FIGS. 16A-16D) include the following elements, or a subset or superset thereof:

402, 404, and 406, as described above;

backup icon 3202 that when activated (e.g., by a finger tap on the icon) initiates a process that backs up and replays the preceding few seconds of the voicemail message;

Progress bar 3204 that indicates what fraction of a voicemail message has been played and that may be used to help scroll through the message in response to a user gesture 3206;

Speed up icon 3208 that when activated (e.g., by a finger tap on the icon) initiates a process that speeds up playback of the voicemail message, which may also adjust the sound frequency or pitch of the fast playback so that the words, although spoken quickly, are still easy to understand;

Names 3210 of the people (associated with incoming phone numbers via the user's contact list) who have left voicemail messages (e.g., Aaron Jones 3210-1) or the phone number if the person's name is not available (e.g., 408-246-8101 3210-2);

Date 3212 and/or time of the voicemail;

Additional information icon 3214 that when activated (e.g., by a finger tap on the icon) initiates transition to the corresponding contact list entry (e.g., UI 2800C, FIG. 15C) or to a UI for unknown phone numbers (e.g., UI 2800D, FIG. 15D);

Speaker icon 3216 that when activated (e.g., by a finger tap on the icon) initiates playback of the voicemail through a speaker;

Options icon 3218 that when activated (e.g., by a finger tap on the icon) initiates display of a menu of additional voicemail options;

Pause icon 3220 that when activated (e.g., by a finger tap on the icon) initiates pausing of the voicemail, which may be displayed apart from individual messages (FIG. 16A) or adjacent to a selected message (FIG. 16C);

Delete symbol icon 3222 that when activated (e.g., by a finger tap on the icon) initiates display of a UI to confirm that the user wants to delete the corresponding voicemail (e.g. UI 3200B, FIG. 16B or UI 3200D, FIG. 16D).

Cancel icon 3226 that when activated (e.g., by a finger tap on the icon) changes the display from UI 3200B to UI 3200A (or from UI 3200D to UI 3200C) without deleting the corresponding voicemail;

Confirm delete icon 3228 that when activated (e.g., by a finger tap on the icon) deletes the corresponding voicemail and changes the display from UI 3200B to UI 3200A (or from UI 3200D to UI 3200C);

Play icon 3230 that when activated (e.g., by a finger tap on the icon) initiates or continues playback of the voicemail, which may be displayed apart from individual messages (FIG. 16B) or adjacent to a selected message (FIG. 16C);

Not heard icon 3232 that indicates that the corresponding voicemail has not been heard;

Downloading icon 3234 that indicates that the corresponding voicemail is being downloaded to the device 100; and

Call icon 3240 that when activated (e.g., by a finger tap on the icon) initiates a call to the phone number associated with the selected voicemail.

If the list of voicemail messages fills more than the screen area, the user may scroll through the list using vertically upward and/or vertically downward gestures 3224 on the touch screen.

In some embodiments, a vertical bar 3260 (FIG. 16C), analogous to the vertical bars described above, is displayed on top of the list of voicemails that helps a user understand what portion of the list is being displayed.

In some embodiments, in response to a user tap or other predefined gesture in the row corresponding to a particular voicemail (but other than a tap or gesture on icon 3214), the phone module initiates playback of the corresponding voicemail. Thus, there is random access to the voicemails and the voicemails may be heard in any order.

In some embodiments, in response to a user gesture, the playback position in the voicemail can be modified. For example, in response to the user's finger touching 3206 at or near the end of the progress bar and then sliding along the progress bar, the playback position may be altered to correspond to the position of the user's finger along the progress bar. This user gesture on the progress bar makes it easy for a user to skip to and/or replay portions of interest in the voicemail message.

FIG. 17 illustrates an exemplary user interface for organizing and managing email in accordance with some embodiments. In some embodiments, user interface 3300 (FIG. 17) includes the following elements, or a subset or superset thereof:

402, 404, and 406, as described above;

a set of mailboxes, such as inbox 3302, which may be organized in rows with a selection icon 3306 for each row;

an unread messages icon 3304 that indicates the number of unread messages;

a settings icon 3308 that when activated (e.g., by a finger tap on the icon) initiates display of a UI to input mailbox settings; and

a create email icon 3310 that when activated (e.g., by a finger tap on the icon) initiates display of a UI for creating a new email message (e.g. UI 3400A, FIG. 18A).

If the set of mailboxes fills more than the screen area, the user may scroll through the mailboxes using vertically upward and/or vertically downward gestures 3312 on the touch screen.

In some embodiments, a vertical bar, analogous to the vertical bars described above, is displayed on top of the list of mailboxes that helps a user understand what portion of the list is being displayed.

FIGS. 18A-18C illustrate an exemplary user interface for creating emails in accordance with some embodiments.

In response to the user activating create email icon 3310 (FIG. 17), the device displays UI 3400A (FIG. 18A).

In some embodiments, if the user makes a tap or other predefined gesture on the subject line 3408 or in the body of the email 3412 (FIG. 18A), a letter keyboard 616 appears and the user may input the subject and/or body text (FIG. 18C). In some embodiments, to enter the email address, the user makes a tap or other predefined gesture on the To: line 3406 of the email; the user's contact list appears; the user makes a tap or other predefined gesture on the desired recipient/contact; and the device places the corresponding email address in the email message (FIG. 18C). If others need to be copied on the email, the user makes a tap or other predefined gesture on the CC: line 3407 of the email; the user's contact list appears; the user makes a tap or other predefined gesture on the desired recipient/contact (e.g., tapping on Janet Walker in the contact list); and the device places the corresponding email address in the email message (FIG. 18C).

In some embodiments, to enter the email address, the user makes a tap or other predefined gesture on the To: line 3406 of the email (FIG. 18A). Add recipient icon 3422 appears, which when activated (e.g., by a finger tap on the icon 3422) initiates the display of a scrollable list of contacts (e.g., 3426, FIG. 18B) that match the input, if any, in the To: field. For example, if the letter “B” is input, then contacts with either a first name or last name beginning with “B” are shown. If the letters “Br” are input in the To: field, then the list of contacts is narrowed to contacts with either a first name or last name beginning with “Br”, and so on until one of the displayed contacts is selected (e.g., by a tap on a contact in the list 3426). If others need to be copied on the email, the user makes a tap or other predefined gesture on the CC: line 3407 of the email and follows an analogous procedure to that used for inputting addresses in the To: field.

In some embodiments, a user can scroll through the list 3426 by applying a vertical swipe gesture 3428 to the area displaying the list 3426. In some embodiments, a vertically downward gesture scrolls the list downward and a vertically upward gesture scrolls the list upward,

In some embodiments, a vertical bar 3430 (FIG. 18B) is displayed temporarily after an object is detected on or near the touch screen display (e.g., a finger touch is detected anywhere on the list 3426). In some embodiments, the vertical bar 3430 has a vertical position on top of the displayed portion of the list that corresponds to the vertical position in the list of the displayed portion of the list. In some embodiments, the vertical bar 3430 has a vertical length that corresponds to the portion of the list being displayed.

In some embodiments, the user may also enter the email address using one or more keyboards (e.g., 616 and 624, not shown).

The device sends the email message in response to the user activating the send icon 3404 (FIG. 18C) (e.g., by a finger tap on the icon). Alternatively, if the user activates the cancel icon 3402, the device may display a save draft icon and a don't save (or delete message) icon. The device saves the draft if the user activates the save draft icon 1810, e.g., in a drafts folder in mail client 140 (FIG. 17). The device deletes the draft if the user activates the don't save icon 1812.

In some embodiments, in response to the user activating the attach icon 3410 (e.g., by a finger tap on the icon), the touch screen displays a UI for adding attachments (not shown).

FIGS. 19A-19I illustrate exemplary user interfaces for displaying and managing an inbox in accordance with some embodiments. Analogous user interfaces may be used to display and manage the other mailboxes (e.g., drafts, sent, trash, personal, and/or work in UI 3300, FIG. 17). In some embodiments, user interfaces 3500A-3500I (FIGS. 19A-19I) include the following elements, or a subset or superset thereof:

402, 404, 406, and 3310, as described above;

mailboxes icon 3502 that when activated (e.g., by a finger tap on the icon) initiates the display of mailbox UI 3300 (FIG. 17);

unread messages icon 3504 that displays the number of unread messages in the inbox;

names 3506 of the senders of the email messages;

subject lines 3508 for the email messages;

dates 3510 of the email messages;

unread message icons 3512 that indicate messages that have not been opened;

preview pane separator 3518 that separates the list of messages from a preview of a selected message in the list;

settings icon 3520 that when activated (e.g., by a finger tap on the icon) initiates the display of a settings user interface;

move message icon 3522 that when activated (e.g., by a finger tap on the icon) initiates the display of a move message user interface;

Delete symbol icon 3524 that when activated (e.g., by a finger tap on the icon) initiates display of a UI to confirm that the user wants to delete the selected email (e.g. UI 3500E, FIG. 19E);

Reply/Forward icon 3526 that when activated (e.g., by a finger tap on the icon) initiates display of a UI to select how to reply or forward the selected email (e.g. UI 3500F, FIG. 19F or UI 3500I, FIG. 19I);

Preview pane 3528 that displays a portion of the selected email message;

Details icon 3530 that when activated (e.g., by a finger tap on the icon) initiates display of email addressing details 3534 (FIG. 19C);

Cancel icon 3540 that when activated (e.g., by a finger tap on the icon) returns the device to the previous user interface (e.g. UI 3500D, FIG. 19D);

Confirm delete icon 3542 that when activated (e.g., by a finger tap on the icon) deletes the selected email;

Reply icon 3544 that when activated (e.g., by a finger tap on the icon) initiates creation of an email replying to the sender;

Reply All icon 3546 that when activated (e.g., by a finger tap on the icon) initiates creation of an email replying to the sender and the other parties included in the selected email (e.g., by cc:);

Forward icon 3548 that when activated (e.g., by a finger tap on the icon) initiates creation of an email to be forwarded;

Show preview pane icon 3550 that when activated (e.g., by a finger tap on the icon) initiates display of preview pane 3528;

Don't show preview pane icon 3552 that when activated (e.g., by a finger tap on the icon) stops display of preview pane 3528;

Vertical bar 3554 for the list of email messages that helps a user understand what portion of the list of email messages is being displayed;

Vertical bar 3556 for the email message in the preview pane that helps a user understand what portion of the message is being displayed;

Horizontal bar 3558 for the email message in the preview pane that helps a user understand what portion of the message is being displayed; and

Refresh mailbox icon 3560 that when activated (e.g., by a finger tap on the icon) initiates downloading of new email messages, if any, from a remote server.

If the set of emails fill more than the screen area (or more than the screen area above the preview pane), the user may scroll through the emails using vertically upward and/or vertically downward gestures 3514 on the touch screen.

In some embodiments, vertical bar 3554 is displayed temporarily after an object is detected on or near the touch screen display (e.g., a finger touch is detected anywhere on the list of email messages). In some embodiments, the vertical bar 3554 has a vertical position on top of the displayed portion of the email list that corresponds to the vertical position in the list of the displayed portion of the list. In some embodiments, the vertical bar 3554 has a vertical length that corresponds to the portion of the email list being displayed. For example, in FIG. 19H, the vertical position of the vertical bar 3554 indicates that the middle of the email list is being displayed and the vertical length of the vertical bar 3554 indicates that roughly one third of the e-mail list is being displayed.

In some embodiments, the email subjects 3508 are not displayed if the preview pane 3528 is used. In some embodiments, the position of the preview pane separator can be adjusted by the user making contact 3516 at or near the preview pane separator and moving the separator to the desired location by dragging the finger contact 3538. In some embodiments, arrows 3539 or other graphics appear during the positioning of the preview pane separator (e.g., UI 3500D, FIG. 19D) to help guide the user.

In some embodiments, in response to a tap or other predefined gesture by the user in a row containing information (e.g., 3506, 3510, and/or 3508) about a particular email message, some or all of the text in the row is highlighted (e.g., by coloring, shading, or bolding) and the corresponding message is displayed in the preview pane area. In some embodiments, in response to a tap or other predefined gesture by the user in a row containing information (e.g., 3506, 3510, and/or 3508) about a particular email message, the email message is displayed on the full screen if the preview pane is not being used.

In some embodiments, if the selected email fills more than the preview pane area, the user may scroll through the email using two-dimensional gestures 3532 in the preview pane with vertical and/or horizontal movement of the email on the touch screen.

In some embodiments, vertical bar 3556 is displayed temporarily after an object is detected on or near the touch screen display (e.g., a finger touch is detected anywhere on the email message in the preview pane 3528). In some embodiments, the vertical bar 3556 has a vertical position on top of the displayed portion of the email message that corresponds to the vertical position in the email of the displayed portion of the email. In some embodiments, the vertical bar 3556 has a vertical length that corresponds to the portion of the email being displayed. For example, in FIG. 19H, the vertical position of the vertical bar 3556 indicates that the top of the email is being displayed and the vertical length of the vertical bar 3556 indicates that a portion from the top quarter of the email is being displayed.

In some embodiments, horizontal bar 3558 is displayed temporarily after an object is detected on or near the touch screen display (e.g., a finger touch is detected anywhere on the email message in the preview pane 3528). In some embodiments, the horizontal bar 3558 has a horizontal position on top of the displayed portion of the email that corresponds to the horizontal position in the email of the displayed portion of the email. In some embodiments, the horizontal bar 3558 has a horizontal length that corresponds to the portion of the email being displayed. For example, in FIG. 19H, the horizontal position of the horizontal bar 3558 indicates that a portion of the left side of the email is being displayed and the horizontal length of the horizontal bar 3558 indicates that a portion from the left half of the email is being displayed. Together, vertical bar 3556 and horizontal bar 3558 indicate that the northwest corner of the email message in the preview pane is being displayed.

In some embodiments, an email is displayed such that only vertical scrolling is needed, in which case horizontal bar 3558 is not used

In some embodiments, in response to user activation of an additional information icon (e.g., “>”) on the detail information 3534 in FIG. 19C (e.g., by a finger tap 3536 on the icon), the touch screen may display contact list information for the corresponding party, if available (e.g., UI 2800C, FIG. 15C) or a UI analogous to UI 2800D, FIG. 15D.

FIG. 19J illustrates an exemplary user interface for setting email user preferences in accordance with some embodiments. In some embodiments, user interface 3600 (FIG. 19J) includes the following elements, or a subset or superset thereof:

402, 404, and 406, as described above;

Done icon 3602 that when activated (e.g., by a finger tap on the icon) returns the device to the previous UI;

Accounts 3604 for entering email account information;

Message list displays 3606 for selecting whether sender 3506 and/or subject 3508 information is displayed in the emails lists;

Display newest messages 3608 for selecting whether the newest messages are displayed at the top or bottom of the screen;

Message display locations 3610 for selecting whether the messages are displayed in the preview pane or full screen;

Preferred message format 3612 for selecting how the messages are formatted (e.g., HTML or plain text);

Rules 3614 for creating rules for managing email messages;

Selection icons 3616 that when activated (e.g., by a finger tap on the icon) show choices for the corresponding settings.

In some embodiments, a user may tap anywhere in the row for a particular setting to initiate display of the corresponding setting choices.

In some embodiments, the settings in FIG. 19J are incorporated into settings 412 (FIG. 4B) and settings icon 3520 need not be displayed in the email application 140 (e.g., FIG. 19G).

FIGS. 20A-20G illustrate exemplary user interfaces for a browser in accordance with some embodiments.

In some embodiments, user interfaces 3900A-3900G (FIGS. 20A-20G) include the following elements, or a subset or superset thereof:

402, 404, and 406, as described above;

Previous page icon 3902 that when activated (e.g., by a finger tap on the icon) initiates display of the previous web page;

Web page name 3904;

Next page icon 3906 that when activated (e.g., by a finger tap on the icon) initiates display of the next web page;

URL (Uniform Resource Locator) entry box 3908 for inputting URLs of web pages;

Refresh icon 3910 that when activated (e.g., by a finger tap on the icon) initiates a refresh of the web page;

Web page 3912 or other structured document, which is made of blocks 3914 of text content and other graphics (e.g., images and inline multimedia);

Settings icon 3916 that when activated (e.g., by a finger tap on the icon) initiates display of a settings menu for the browser;

Bookmarks icon 3918 that when activated (e.g., by a finger tap on the icon) initiates display of a bookmarks list or menu for the browser;

Add bookmark icon 3920 that when activated (e.g., by a finger tap on the icon) initiates display of a UI for adding bookmarks;

New window icon 3922 that when activated (e.g., by a finger tap on the icon) initiates display of a UI for adding new windows to the browser;

Vertical bar 3962 (FIGS. 20F and 20G), analogous to the vertical bars described above, for the web page 3912 or other structured document that helps a user understand what portion of the web page 3912 or other structured document is being displayed;

Horizontal bar 3964 (FIGS. 20F and 20G), analogous to the horizontal bars described above, for the web page 3912 or other structured document that helps a user understand what portion of the web page 3912 or other structured document is being displayed;

In some embodiments, in response to a predefined gesture by the user on a block 3914 (e.g., a single tap gesture or a double tap gesture), the block is enlarged and centered (or substantially centered) in the web page display. For example, in response to a single tap gesture 3923 on block 3914-5, block 3914-5 may be enlarged and centered in the display, as shown in UI 3900C, FIG. 20C. In some embodiments, the width of the block is scaled to fill the touch screen display. In some embodiments, the width of the block is scaled to fill the touch screen display with a predefined amount of padding along the sides of the display. In some embodiments, a zooming animation of the block is displayed during enlargement of the block. Similarly, in response to a single tap gesture 3925 on block 3914-2, block 3914-2 may be enlarged with a zooming animation and two-dimensionally scrolled to the center of the display (not shown).

In some embodiments, the device analyzes the render tree of the web page 3912 to determine the blocks 3914 in the web page. In some embodiments, a block 3914 corresponds to a render node that is: replaced; a block; an inline block; or an inline table.

In some embodiments, in response to the same predefined gesture by the user on a block 3914 (e.g., a single tap gesture or a double tap gesture) that is already enlarged and centered, the enlargement and/or centering is substantially or completely reversed. For example, in response to a single tap gesture 3929 (FIG. 20C) on block 3914-5, the web page image may zoom out and return to UI 3900A, FIG. 20A.

In some embodiments, in response to a predefined gesture (e.g., a single tap gesture or a double tap gesture) by the user on a block 3914 that is already enlarged but not centered, the block is centered (or substantially centered) in the web page display. For example, in response to a single tap gesture 3927 (FIG. 20C) on block 3914-4, block 3914-4 may be centered (or substantially centered) in the web page display. Similarly, in response to a single tap gesture 3935 (FIG. 20C) on block 3914-6, block 3914-6 may be centered (or substantially centered) in the web page display. Thus, for a web page display that is already enlarged, in response to a predefined gesture, the device may display in an intuitive manner a series of blocks that the user wants to view. This same gesture may initiate different actions in different contexts (e.g., (1) zooming and/or enlarging in combination with scrolling when the web page is reduced in size, UI 3900A and (2) reversing the enlargement and/or centering if the block is already centered and enlarged).

In some embodiments, in response to a multi-touch 3931 and 3933 de-pinching gesture by the user (FIG. 20C), the web page may be enlarged. Conversely, in response to a multi-touch pinching gesture by the user, the web page may be reduced.

In some embodiments, in response to a substantially vertical upward (or downward) swipe gesture by the user, the web page (or, more generally, other electronic documents) may scroll one-dimensionally upward (or downward) in the vertical direction. For example, in response to an upward swipe gesture 3937 by the user that is within a predetermined angle (e.g., 27.degree.) of being perfectly vertical, the web page may scroll one-dimensionally upward in the vertical direction.

Conversely, in some embodiments, in response to a swipe gesture that is not within a predetermined angle (e.g., 27.degree.) of being perfectly vertical, the web page may scroll two-dimensionally (i.e., with simultaneous movement in both the vertical and horizontal directions). For example, in response to an upward swipe gesture 3939 (FIG. 20C) by the user that is not within a predetermined angle (e.g., 27.degree.) of being perfectly vertical, the web page may scroll two-dimensionally along the direction of the swipe 3939.

In some embodiments, in response to a multi-touch 3941 and 3943 rotation gesture by the user (FIG. 20C), the web page may be rotated exactly 90.degree. (UI 3900D, FIG. 20D) for landscape viewing, even if the amount of rotation in the multi-touch 3941 and 3943 rotation gesture is substantially different from 90.degree. Similarly, in response to a multi-touch 3945 and 3947 rotation gesture by the user (UI 3900D, FIG. 20D), the web page may be rotated exactly 90.degree. for portrait viewing, even if the amount of rotation in the multi-touch 3945 and 3947 rotation gesture is substantially different from 90.degree.

Thus, in response to imprecise gestures by the user, precise movements of graphics occur. The device behaves in the manner desired by the user despite inaccurate input by the user. Also, note that the gestures described for UI 3900C, which has a portrait view, are also applicable to UIs with a landscape view (e.g., UI 3900D, FIG. 20D) so that the user can choose whichever view the user prefers for web browsing.

In some embodiments, a portable electronic device with a touch screen display (e.g., device 100) displays at least a portion of a structured electronic document on the touch screen display. The structured electronic document comprises a plurality of boxes of content (e.g., blocks 3914, FIG. 20A).

In some embodiments, the plurality of boxes are defined by a style sheet language. In some embodiments, the style sheet language is a cascading style sheet language. In some embodiments, the structured electronic document is a web page (e.g., web page 3912, FIG. 20A). In some embodiments, the structured electronic document is an HTML or XML document.

In some embodiments, displaying at least a portion of the structured electronic document comprises scaling the document width to fit within the touch screen display width independent of the document length.

In some embodiments, the touch screen display is rectangular with a short axis and a long axis; the display width corresponds to the short axis when the structured electronic document is seen in portrait view (e.g., FIG. 20C); and the display width corresponds to the long axis when the structured electronic document is seen in landscape view (e.g., FIG. 20D).

In some embodiments, prior to displaying at least a portion of a structured electronic document, borders, margins, and/or paddings are determined for the plurality of boxes and adjusted for display on the touch screen display. In some embodiments, all boxes in the plurality of boxes are adjusted. In some embodiments, just the first box is adjusted. In some embodiments, just the first box and boxes adjacent to the first box are adjusted.

A first gesture is detected at a location on the displayed portion of the structured electronic document (e.g., gesture 3923, FIG. 20A). In some embodiments, the first gesture is a finger gesture. In some embodiments, the first gesture is a stylus gesture.

In some embodiments, the first gesture is a tap gesture. In some embodiments, the first gesture is a double tap with a single finger, a double tap with two fingers, a single tap with a single finger, or a single tap with two fingers.

A first box (e.g., Block 5 3914-5, FIG. 20A) in the plurality of boxes is determined at the location of the first gesture. In some embodiments, the structured electronic document has an associated render tree with a plurality of nodes and determining the first box at the location of the first gesture comprises: traversing down the render tree to determine a first node in the plurality of nodes that corresponds to the detected location of the first gesture; traversing up the render tree from the first node to a closest parent node that contains a logical grouping of content; and identifying content corresponding to the closest parent node as the first box. In some embodiments, the logical grouping of content comprises a paragraph, an image, a plugin object, or a table. In some embodiments, the closest parent node is a replaced inline, a block, an inline block, or an inline table.

The first box is enlarged and substantially centered on the touch screen display (e.g., Block 5 3914-5, FIG. 20C). In some embodiments, enlarging and substantially centering comprises simultaneously zooming and translating the first box on the touch screen display. In some embodiments, enlarging comprises expanding the first box so that the width of the first box is substantially the same as the width of the touch screen display.

In some embodiments, text in the enlarged first box is resized to meet or exceed a predetermined minimum text size on the touch screen display. In some embodiments, the text resizing comprises: determining a scale factor by which the first box will be enlarged; dividing the predetermined minimum text size on the touch screen display by the scaling factor to determine a minimum text size for text in the first box; and if a text size for text in the first box is less than the determined minimum text size, increasing the text size for text in the first box to at least the determined minimum text size. In some embodiments, the first box has a width; the display has a display width; and the scale factor is the display width divided by the width of the first box prior to enlarging. In some embodiments, the resizing occurs during the enlarging. In some embodiments, the resizing occurs after the enlarging.

In some embodiments, text in the structured electronic document is resized to meet or exceed a predetermined minimum text size on the touch screen display. In some embodiments, the text resizing comprises: determining a scale factor by which the first box will be enlarged; dividing the predetermined minimum text size on the touch screen display by the scaling factor to determine a minimum text size for text in the structured electronic document; and if a text size for text in the structured electronic document is less than the determined minimum text size, increasing the text size for text in the structured electronic document to at least the determined minimum text size. In some embodiments, the text resizing comprises: identifying boxes containing text in the plurality of boxes; determining a scale factor by which the first box will be enlarged; dividing the predetermined minimum text size on the touch screen display by the scaling factor to determine a minimum text size for text in the structured electronic document; and for each identified box containing text, if a text size for text in the identified box is less than the determined minimum text size, increasing the text size for text in the identified box to at least the determined minimum text size and adjusting the size of the identified box.

In some embodiments, a second gesture (e.g., gesture 3929, FIG. 20C) is detected on the enlarged first box. In response to detecting the second gesture, the displayed portion of the structured electronic document is reduced in size. In some embodiments, the first box returns to its size prior to being enlarged.

In some embodiments, the second gesture and the first gesture are the same type of gesture. In some embodiments, the second gesture is a finger gesture. In some embodiments, the second gesture is a stylus gesture.

In some embodiments, the second gesture is a tap gesture. In some embodiments, the second gesture is a double tap with a single finger, a double tap with two fingers, a single tap with a single finger, or a single tap with two fingers.

In some embodiments, while the first box is enlarged, a third gesture (e.g., gesture 3927 or gesture 3935, FIG. 20C) is detected on a second box other than the first box. In response to detecting the third gesture, the second box is substantially centered on the touch screen display. In some embodiments, the third gesture and the first gesture are the same type of gesture. In some embodiments, the third gesture is a finger gesture. In some embodiments, the third gesture is a stylus gesture.

In some embodiments, the third gesture is a tap gesture. In some embodiments, the third gesture is a double tap with a single finger, a double tap with two fingers, a single tap with a single finger, or a single tap with two fingers.

In some embodiments, a swipe gesture (e.g., gesture 3937 or gesture 3939, FIG. 20C) is detected on the touch screen display. In response to detecting the swipe gesture, the displayed portion of the structured electronic document is translated on the touch screen display. In some embodiments, the translating comprises vertical, horizontal, or diagonal movement of the structured electronic document on the touch screen display. In some embodiments, the swipe gesture is a finger gesture. In some embodiments, the swipe gesture is a stylus gesture.

In some embodiments, a fifth gesture (e.g., multi-touch gesture 3941/3943, FIG. 20C) is detected on the touch screen display. In response to detecting the fifth gesture, the displayed portion of the structured electronic document is rotated on the touch screen display by 90.degree. In some embodiments, the fifth gesture is a finger gesture. In some embodiments, the fifth gesture is a multifinger gesture. In some embodiments, the fifth gesture is a twisting multifinger gesture.

In some embodiments, a change in orientation of the device is detected. In response to detecting the change in orientation of the device, the displayed portion of the structured electronic document is rotated on the touch screen display by 90.degree.

In some embodiments, a multi-finger de-pinch gesture (e.g., multi-touch gesture 3931/3933, FIG. 20C) is detected on the touch screen display. In response to detecting the multi-finger de-pinch gesture, a portion of the displayed portion of the structured electronic document is enlarged on the touch screen display in accordance with a position of the multi-finger de-pinch gesture and an amount of finger movement in the multi-finger de-pinch gesture.

A graphical user interface (e.g., UI 3900A, FIG. 20A) on a portable electronic device with a touch screen display comprises at least a portion of a structured electronic document (e.g., web page 3912, FIG. 20A). The structured electronic document comprises a plurality of boxes of content (e.g., blocks 3914, FIG. 20A). In response to detecting a first gesture (e.g., gesture 3923, FIG. 20A) at a location on the portion of the structured electronic document, a first box (e.g., Block 5 3914-5, FIG. 20A) in the plurality of boxes at the location of the first gesture is determined and the first box is enlarged and substantially centered on the touch screen display (e.g., Block 5 3914-5, FIG. 20C).

In some embodiments, in response to a tap or other predefined user gesture on URL entry box 3908, the touch screen displays an enlarged entry box 3926 and a keyboard 616 (e.g., UI 3900B, FIG. 20B in portrait viewing and UI 3900E, FIG. 20E in landscape viewing). In some embodiments, the touch screen also displays:

Contextual clear icon 3928 that when activated (e.g., by a finger tap on the icon) initiates deletion of all text in entry box 3926;

a search icon 3930 that when activated (e.g., by a finger tap on the icon) initiates an Internet search using the search terms input in box 3926; and

Go to URL icon 3932 that when activated (e.g., by a finger tap on the icon) initiates acquisition of the web page with the URL input in box 3926;

Thus, the same entry box 3926 may be used for inputting both search terms and URLs. In some embodiments, whether or not clear icon 3928 is displayed depends on the context.

FIGS. 21A-21I illustrate exemplary user interfaces for a music and video player 152 in accordance with some embodiments.

In some embodiments, icons for major content categories (e.g., playlists 4308, artists 4310, songs 4312, and video 4314) are displayed in a first area of the display (e.g., 4340, FIG. 21A). In some embodiments, the first area also includes an icon (e.g., more icon 4316) that when activated (e.g., by a finger tap on the icon) leads to additional content categories (e.g., albums, audiobooks, compilations, composers, genres, and podcasts in FIG. 43J).

In some embodiments, the player 152 includes a now playing icon 4302 that when activated (e.g., by a finger tap on the icon) takes the user directly to a UI displaying information about the currently playing music (not shown).

In some embodiments, in response to a series of gestures (e.g., finger taps) by the user, the device displays a series of content categories and sub-categories. For example, if the user activates selection icon 4306 (e.g., by a finger tap on the icon) or, in some embodiments, taps anywhere in the Top 25 row 4318, the UI changes from a display of playlist categories (UI 4300A, FIG. 41A) to a display of the Top 25 sub-category (UI 4300B, FIG. 21B).

If just a portion of a category or sub-category is displayed, a vertical bar, analogous to the vertical bars described above, is displayed on top of the category/sub-category that helps a user understand what portion of the category/sub-category is being displayed (e.g., vertical bar 4320, FIG. 21B). In some embodiments, a user can scroll through the list of items in the category/sub-category by applying a vertical or substantially vertical swipe gesture 4322 to the area displaying the list. In some embodiments, a vertically downward gesture scrolls the list downward and a vertically upward gesture scrolls the list upward.

In some embodiments, if the user scrolls to the top of the list and then continues to apply a scrolling gesture (e.g., 4324, FIG. 21C), background 4326-1 appears and the vertical bar 4320-1 may start to reduce in length to indicate to the user that the top of the list has been reached. When the user's finger breaks contact with the touch screen display, the list may move back to the top of the display and the background 4326-1 shrinks to nothing. Similarly, if the user scrolls to the bottom of the list and then continues to apply a scrolling gesture (e.g., 4328, FIG. 21D), background 4326-2 appears and the vertical bar 4320-2 may start to reduce in length to indicate to the user that the bottom of the list has been reached. When the user's finger breaks contact with the touch screen display, the list may move back to the bottom of the display and the background 4326-2 shrinks to nothing. This “rubber band-like” behavior at the terminus of lists may be applied to many other types of lists and documents that have vertical scrolling. Similar behavior may be applied to all of the edges of documents that can be translated in two dimensions (e.g., web pages, word processing documents, and photographs and other images). Additional description of this “rubber band-like” scrolling and translation behavior can be found in U.S. Patent Application No. 60/883,801, “List Scrolling And Document Translation On A Touch-Screen Display,” filed Jan. 7, 2007, the content of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

In some embodiments, if the user activates artists icon 4310 (e.g., by a finger tap on the icon), the artists category will be displayed (FIG. 21E). In some embodiments, such as when the artists list is arranged alphabetically, an index item/symbol (e.g., the letter A 4330-1) may remain adjacent to a respective information item subset (e.g., artists 4332 whose name begins with the letter A). When scrolling up through the list of information items (e.g., in response to an upward swipe on the touch sensitive display by the user), the index item/symbol may move to the upper edge of a window (e.g., window 4336, FIG. 21F). As the scrolling continues (e.g., in response to gesture 4334, FIG. 21F), the index item/symbol may remain there until the end of the respective information item subset is reached, at which time the index item/symbol may be replaced with a subsequent index item/symbol (e.g., the letter B 4330-2). An analogous scrolling effect is shown for the Movies 4330-3 and Music Videos 4330-4 index items in UI 4300H and UI 4300I (FIGS. 21H and 21I). Additional description of such scrolling is described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/322,547, “Scrolling List With Floating Adjacent Index Symbols,” filed Dec. 23, 2005; Ser. No. 11/322,551, “Continuous Scrolling List With Acceleration,” filed Dec. 23, 2005; and Ser. No. 11/322,553, “List Scrolling In Response To Moving Contact Over List Of Index Symbols,” filed Dec. 23, 2005, which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety.

In some embodiments, if the user activates songs icon 4312 (e.g., by a finger tap on the icon), the songs category will be displayed (FIG. 21G).

In some embodiments, if the user activates videos icon 4314 (e.g., by a finger tap on the icon), the video category will be displayed (FIG. 21H).

FIGS. 22A-22E illustrate exemplary user interfaces for a calendar in accordance with some embodiments. Additional description of calendars can be found in U.S. Patent Application No. 60/883,820, “System And Method For Viewing And Managing Calendar Entries,” filed Jan. 7, 2007, the content of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

In some embodiments, vertical and horizontal bars help a user understand what portion of a list or document is being displayed. This may be achieved by displaying the vertical and horizontal bars at a vertical or a horizontal location, respectively, which correspond to a vertical or a horizontal position, respectively, in the electronic document, list and/or the like, of the presently-displayed portion of that electronic document, list and/or the like.

Optionally, the vertical and/or horizontal bars are also used to indicate to the user a size proportion of the presently-displayed portion of the electronic document, list and/or the like in relation to the full electronic document, list and/or the like. This end may be achieved by providing each of the vertical and/or horizontal bars as an elongated shape, whose longer dimension has a length which corresponds to the aforementioned size proportion.

The vertical and/or horizontal bars may be “non-scroll” vertical and/or horizontal bars, namely—they do not function as scroll bars; they are not intended to be used to scroll the electronic document vertically and/or horizontally, respectively, but rather serve as indicators only. Scrolling is performed, in contrast, by moving an object, such as a finger, along the touch screen, in the desired scrolling direction—and not necessarily over the vertical and/or horizontal bars.

Advantageously, the vertical and/or horizontal bars are displayed at different levels of opacity under different circumstances. The term “opacity” (also “opaqueness”), as referred to herein, relates to a scale, optionally measured in percentages, ranging from near-transparency (for example between approximately 1% and 5% opacity) to complete opacity (100% opaque). When the opacity of the vertical and/or horizontal bars is larger than 0% and smaller than 100%, it is referred to as “translucency”, which causes the display of any portion of the electronic document which lies beneath the vertical and/or horizontal bars to be affected, to an extent essentially negatively correlated with the opacity of the vertical and/or horizontal bars; the higher the opacity, the lesser the effect on the underlying electronic document, and vice versa.

Optionally, the opacity is defined by an alpha channel value. An alpha channel, as is known in the art, is digital information which defines at what opacity other channels, such as color channels (e.g. RGB channels) are to be displayed on a computerized display. For example, the RGBA color space includes four channels: Red, green, blue, and alpha. The alpha channel may include, for each pixel in an RGB image, a value between 0 and 1—with 0 defining complete transparency of that pixel (the equivalent of 0% opacity, as discussed above), and 1 defining complete opacity of that pixel (the equivalent of 100% opacity, as discussed above). An alpha channel value of 0.5, for example, will cause the affected pixel to be displayed at half opacity.

The main effect of opacity in digital imagery and digital display of information is in the process known as “alpha compositing”. In alpha compositing, a foreground image is combined with a background image, to form a “composite”. See “Alpha Compositing”, (2016, Sep. 16), in Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, Retrieved Sep. 16, 2016, from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Alpha_compositing&oldid=739700527. The composite is the result of overlaying (also “displaying”, or “superimposing”) the foreground on the background at a certain level of opacity (defined, for example, by an alpha channel) of the foreground. The foreground may have the same opacity along its entire area, or variable opacity values along its area—defined, for example, by the alpha channel values of the different pixels of the foreground.

With reference to the present vertical and/or horizontal bars, which may be referred to as the “foreground”, they may have a certain opacity, optionally defined by an alpha channel, which may make whatever part of the electronic document underneath them (the “background”) partially visible or not visible at all.

For example, if a certain vertical and/or horizontal bar is defined as being black (#000000 on a hexadecimal RGB scale) and being translucent (namely, above 0 alpha but below 1 alpha), the portion of the electronic document which lies beneath it would be displayed darker than its original color, due to the influence of the black vertical and/or horizontal bar. As on opposite example, if a certain vertical and/or horizontal bar is defined as being white (#FFFFFF on a hexadecimal RGB scale) and being translucent, the portion of the electronic document which lies beneath it would be displayed lighter than its original color, due to the influence of the white vertical and/or horizontal bar.

As another example, if a certain vertical and/or horizontal bar is defined has having any color at all and also being completely (100%) opaque, namely—having an alpha channel value of 1, then the portion of the electronic document which lies beneath it would not be displayed at all and would not be visible to a human observer.

Optionally, the different levels of opacity at which the vertical and/or horizontal bars are displayed are at least 30% apart (or 0.3 alpha channel value points); for example, if a first level of opacity is 10% (0.1 alpha), the other would be at least 40% (0.4 alpha), and so on. Alternatively, the different levels of opacity are at least 50% (0.5 alpha points) apart, at least 75% (0.75 alpha points) apart, or at least 80% (0.8 alpha points) apart.

The following is an example of a display of the vertical and/or horizontal bars at different levels of opacity: When a portion of an electronic document is initially displayed, a first vertical and/or horizontal bar may be displayed at a relatively low opacity, for example between 10-50% (0.1-0.5 alpha). When an object is detected on or near the touch screen display (e.g., a finger touch is detected anywhere on the electronic document, list or the like), the first vertical and/or horizontal bar may be replaced, temporarily, with a second vertical and/or horizontal bar, having a higher opacity than the first one, or even being completely opaque, for example 80-100% opacity (0.8-1 alpha). As another example, the first vertical and/or horizontal bar may have an opacity of between 10-40% (0.1-0.4 alpha), and the second vertical and/or horizontal bar may have an opacity of between 90-100% (0.9-1 alpha).

The term “temporarily” relates to a certain pre-determined duration, optionally between 0.25 seconds and 3 seconds, and further optionally between 0.5 seconds and 5 seconds, which is counted from when the object is detected on or near the touch screen display or from when the object stops being detected on or near the touch screen display (namely—the object was lifted off the touch screen display); this relates both to a scenario where the object slides along the touch screen display—such as for scrolling purposes, and to a scenario where the object acts on a single location of the touch screen display.

As another option, the pre-determined duration may be shorter than 0.25 seconds, and as yet a further option, the pre-determined duration may be longer than 5 seconds. When the pre-determined duration ends, the second, higher opacity vertical and/or horizontal bar may be changed back to the first, lower opacity vertical and/or horizontal bar, until a future object is detected on or near the touch screen display again.

An advantage of displaying the vertical and/or horizontal bars at a relatively high opacity during the detection of an object on or near the touch screen display and at a relatively low opacity at all other times is that the user has constant knowledge of the present vertical and/or horizontal position in the electronic document—whether an object is touching or is near the touch screen display or not. When an object is not on or near the touch screen display, the vertical and/or horizontal bar is only minimally obtrusive, since its relatively low opacity allows seeing, at least partially, whatever part of the electronic document which lies beneath it. The low opacity also means that the vertical and/or horizontal bar is not grasped by the user as a bulky, space-consuming GUI element. However, upon detecting that an object is not on or near the touch screen display, the opacity of the vertical and/or horizontal bar increases (optionally to full opacity), either immediately or after a predefined delay, so that the user can more clearly receive indicative feedback to either a scrolling motion initiated by the object or to a single-location touch. That high opacity is unlikely to disturb the user, since, when the user touches the touch sensitive display with his or her finger (or with any other object), he or she is usually not interested in reading or other closely focusing on the details of the electronic document.

The opacity of the vertical and/or horizontal bars may either be applied to the entirety of the bars, or only to a portion thereof. For example, each of the vertical and/or horizontal bars may include a border and a fill delimited by the border, wherein the border and the fill may be of different opacities.

FIGS. 24A and 24B illustrate exemplary user interfaces in which vertical and horizontal scroll bars are displayed in low and high opacity levels, respectively, accordance with some embodiments. In FIG. 24A, a photo 2402 of leaves represents an exemplary electronic document. Being too large to fit on the touch screen display, only a portion of photo 2402 is displayed in UI 1600A. A vertical bar 2404 and a horizontal bar 2406 being of a relatively low opacity (symbolized by hatching) are shown over photo 2402, wherein their low opacity allows the user to still see whatever part of photo 2402 lies beneath them. In FIG. 25B, however, vertical bar 2404 (FIG. 24A) has been replaced with a higher-opacity vertical bar 2408 and horizontal 2406 (FIG. 24A) has been replaced with a higher-opacity horizontal bar 2410.

Those of skill in the art will recognize that the usage of an alpha channel value for the first and second vertical and/or horizontal bar is only one technical way of defining their opacities. It is intended herein that any technique for defining these opacities is within the scope of the present disclosure.

FIG. 23A is a flow diagram illustrating a process 2300 of displaying a portion of a list of items in accordance with some embodiments. A portable multifunction device displays (2302) a portion of a list of items on a touch screen display. The displayed portion of the list has a vertical position in the list. A lower-opacity vertical bar is displayed, having a vertical position on top of the displayed portion of the list that corresponds to the vertical position in the list of the displayed portion of the list. See, for example, vertical bar 2404 in FIG. 24A.

In some embodiments, the list of items is a list of contacts (e.g. FIG. 7A), a list of instant message conversations (e.g. FIG. 5), a list of instant messages (e.g. FIG. 6A), a list of photo albums (e.g. FIG. 11B), a list of audio content (e.g., FIG. 21B), a list of video content (e.g. FIG. 14C), a list of calendar entries (e.g. FIG. 22C), a list of recent calls (e.g. FIG. 15B), a list of mailboxes (e.g. FIG. 17), a list of emails (e.g. FIG. 19A), a list of settings (e.g., FIG. 19J), or a list of voicemail messages (e.g. FIG. 16C).

An object is detected (2304) on or near the displayed portion of the list. In some embodiments, the object is a finger.

In response to detecting the object on or near the displayed portion of the list, the lower-opacity vertical bar is replaced with a higher-opacity vertical bar (2306) on top of the displayed portion of the list. See, for example, vertical bar 2408 in FIG. 24B. The vertical bar has a vertical position on top of the displayed portion of the list that corresponds to the vertical position in the list of the displayed portion of the list. In some embodiments, the vertical bar has a vertical length that corresponds to the portion of the list being displayed. In some embodiments, the vertical bar is located on the right hand side of the displayed portion of the list. In some embodiments, the vertical bar is translucent or transparent. The vertical bar has a major axis and a portion of the list along the major axis of the vertical bar is not covered by the vertical bar.

In some embodiments, a movement of the object is detected (2308) on or near the displayed portion of the list. In some embodiments, the movement of the object is on the touch screen display. In some embodiments, the movement is a substantially vertical movement.

In response to detecting the movement, the list of items displayed on the touch screen display is scrolled (2310) so that a new portion of the list is displayed and the vertical position of the higher-opacity vertical bar is moved to a new position such that the new position corresponds to the vertical position in the list of the displayed new portion of the list. In some embodiments, scrolling the list has an associated speed of translation that corresponds to a speed of movement of the object. In some embodiments, scrolling the list is in accordance with a simulation of an equation of motion having friction.

After a predetermined condition is met, the display of the higher-opacity vertical bar is ceased (2312) and a lower-opacity vertical bar replaces it, while the displayed portion of the electronic document continues to be displayed, even though displayed portion of the electronic document has a vertical extent less than a vertical extent of the electronic document. In some embodiments, the predetermined condition comprises ceasing to detect the object on or near the touch screen display (2314). In some embodiments, the predetermined condition comprises ceasing to detect the object on or near the touch screen display for a predetermined time period (2316). In some embodiments, the predetermined condition comprises ceasing to detect the object on or near the displayed portion of the list (2318).

A graphical user interface on a portable multifunction device with a touch screen display comprises a portion of a list of items displayed on the touch screen display, wherein the displayed portion of the list has a vertical position in the list, and a vertical bar displayed on top of the portion of the list of items. In response to detecting an object on or near the displayed portion of the list, the vertical bar is displayed on top of the portion of the list of items. The vertical bar has a vertical position on top of the displayed portion of the list that corresponds to the vertical position in the list of the displayed portion of the list. After a predetermined condition is met, the display of the vertical bar is ceased while the displayed portion of the electronic document continues to be displayed, wherein the displayed portion of the electronic document has a vertical extent that is less than a vertical extent of the electronic document.

FIG. 23B is a flow diagram illustrating a process 2330 of displaying a portion of an electronic document in accordance with some embodiments. A portable multifunction device displays (2332) a portion of an electronic document on a touch screen display. The displayed portion of the electronic document has a vertical position in the electronic document. In some embodiments, the electronic document is a web page (e.g., FIG. 20A). In some embodiments, the electronic document is a word processing, spreadsheet, email (e.g., FIG. 19B), or presentation document. A lower-opacity vertical bar is displayed, having a vertical position on top of the displayed portion of the list that corresponds to the vertical position in the list of the displayed portion of the list. See, for example, vertical bar 2404 in FIG. 24A.

An object is detected (2334) on or near the displayed portion of the electronic document. In some embodiments, the object is a finger.

In response to detecting the object on or near the displayed portion of the electronic document, the lower-opacity vertical bar is replaced with a higher-opacity vertical bar (2336) on top of the displayed portion of the electronic document. See for example 2408 in FIG. 24B. The vertical bar has a vertical position on top of the displayed portion of the electronic document that corresponds to the vertical position in the electronic document of the displayed portion of the electronic document. In some embodiments, the vertical bar has a vertical length that corresponds to the portion of the electronic document being displayed. In some embodiments, the vertical bar is located on the right hand side of the displayed portion of the electronic document. The vertical bar has a major axis and a portion of the electronic document along the major axis of the vertical bar is not covered by the vertical bar (see, for example, vertical bar 1222 in FIG. 10, and vertical bar 3962 in FIG. 20G).

In some embodiments, a movement of the object is detected (2338) on or near the displayed portion of the electronic document. In some embodiments, the movement of the object is on the touch screen display. In some embodiments, the movement is a substantially vertical movement.

In response to detecting the movement, the electronic document displayed on the touch screen display is scrolled (2340) so that a new portion of the electronic document is displayed, and the vertical position of the vertical bar is moved to a new position such that the new position corresponds to the vertical position in the electronic document of the displayed new portion of the electronic document. In some embodiments, scrolling the electronic document has an associated speed of translation that corresponds to a speed of movement of the object. In some embodiments, scrolling the electronic document is in accordance with a simulation of an equation of motion having friction.

After a predetermined condition is met, the display of the high-opacity vertical bar is ceased (2342) and is replaced by a lower-opacity vertical bar. In some embodiments, the predetermined condition comprises ceasing to detect the object on or near the touch screen display (2344). In some embodiments, the predetermined condition comprises ceasing to detect the object on or near the touch screen display for a predetermined time period (2346). In some embodiments, the predetermined condition comprises ceasing to detect the object on or near the displayed portion of the electronic document (2348) while the displayed portion of the electronic document continues to be displayed, wherein the displayed portion of the electronic document has a vertical extent that is less than a vertical extent of the electronic document.

A graphical user interface on a portable multifunction device with a touch screen display comprises a portion of an electronic document displayed on the touch screen display, wherein the displayed portion of the electronic document has a vertical position in the electronic document, and a vertical bar displayed on top of the portion of the electronic document. In response to detecting an object on or near the displayed portion of the electronic document, the vertical bar is displayed on top of the portion of the electronic document. The vertical bar has a vertical position on top of the displayed portion of the electronic document that corresponds to the vertical position in the electronic document of the displayed portion of the electronic document. After a predetermined condition is met, the display of the vertical bar is ceased while the displayed portion of the electronic document continues to be displayed, wherein the displayed portion of the electronic document has a vertical extent that is less than a vertical extent of the electronic document.

FIG. 23C is a flow diagram illustrating a process 2360 of displaying a portion of an electronic document in accordance with some embodiments. A portable multifunction device displays (2362) a portion of an electronic document on a touch screen display. The displayed portion of the electronic document has a vertical position in the electronic document and a horizontal position in the electronic document. In some embodiments, the electronic document is a web page (e.g., FIG. 20A). In some embodiments, the electronic document is a word processing, spreadsheet, email (e.g., FIG. 19B), or presentation document. A lower-opacity vertical bar and a lower-opacity horizontal bar are displayed, having a vertical and horizontal positions on top of the displayed portion of the list that corresponds to the vertical and horizontal positions, respectively in the list of the displayed portion of the list. See, for example, vertical bar 2404 and horizontal bar 2406 in FIG. 24A.

An object is detected (2364) on or near the displayed portion of the electronic document. In some embodiments, the object is a finger.

In response to detecting the object on or near the displayed portion of the electronic document, the lower-opacity vertical bar and horizontal bar are replaced by higher-opacity vertical bar and horizontal bar (2366) on top of the displayed portion of the electronic document. See for example vertical bar 2408 and horizontal bar 2410 in FIG. 24B. In some embodiments, the vertical bar is located on the right hand side of the displayed portion of the electronic document and the horizontal bar is located on the bottom side of the displayed portion of the electronic document. In some embodiments, the vertical bar and the horizontal bar are translucent or transparent.

The vertical bar has a vertical position on top of the displayed portion of the electronic document that corresponds to the vertical position in the electronic document of the displayed portion of the electronic document. In some embodiments, the vertical bar has a vertical length that corresponds to the vertical portion of the electronic document being displayed. In some embodiments, the vertical bar has a major axis and a portion of the electronic document along the major axis of the vertical bar is not covered by the vertical bar.

The horizontal bar has a horizontal position on top of the displayed portion of the electronic document that corresponds to the horizontal position in the electronic document of the displayed portion of the electronic document. In some embodiments, the horizontal bar has a horizontal length that corresponds to the horizontal portion of the electronic document being displayed. In some embodiments, the horizontal bar has a major axis, substantially perpendicular to the major axis of the vertical bar, and a portion of the electronic document along the major axis of the horizontal bar is not covered by the horizontal bar.

In some embodiments, a movement of the object is detected (2368) on or near the displayed portion of the electronic document. In some embodiments, the movement of the object is on the touch screen display.

In response to detecting the movement, the electronic document displayed on the touch screen display is translated (2370) so that a new portion of the electronic document is displayed. In some embodiments, the electronic document is translated in a vertical direction, a horizontal direction, or a diagonal direction. In some embodiments, the electronic document is translated in accordance with the movement of the object. In some embodiments, translating the electronic document has an associated speed of translation that corresponds to a speed of movement of the object. In some embodiments, translating the electronic document is in accordance with a simulation of an equation of motion having friction.

In response to detecting the movement, the vertical position of the vertical bar is moved to a new vertical position such that the new vertical position corresponds to the vertical position in the electronic document of the displayed new portion of the electronic document.

In response to detecting the movement, the horizontal position of the horizontal bar is moved to a new horizontal position such that the new horizontal position corresponds to the horizontal position in the electronic document of the displayed new portion of the electronic document.

After a predetermined condition is met, the display of the vertical bar and the horizontal bar is ceased (2372) while the displayed portion of the electronic document continues to be displayed, wherein the displayed portion of the electronic document has a vertical extent and a horizontal extent that are less than a vertical extent and horizontal extent of the electronic document, respectively. In some embodiments, the predetermined condition comprises ceasing to detect the object on or near the touch screen display (2374). In some embodiments, the predetermined condition comprises ceasing to detect the object on or near the touch screen display for a predetermined time period (2376). In some embodiments, the predetermined condition comprises ceasing to detect the object on or near the displayed portion of the electronic document (2378).

A graphical user interface on a portable multifunction device with a touch screen display comprises a portion of an electronic document displayed on the touch screen display. The displayed portion of the electronic document has a vertical position in the electronic document and a horizontal position in the electronic document. The GUI also comprises a vertical bar displayed on top of the portion of the electronic document, and a horizontal bar displayed on top of the portion of the electronic document. In response to detecting an object on or near the displayed portion of the electronic document, the vertical bar and the horizontal bar are displayed on top of the portion of the electronic document. The vertical bar has a vertical position on top of the displayed portion of the electronic document that corresponds to the vertical position in the electronic document of the displayed portion of the electronic document. The horizontal bar has a horizontal position on top of the displayed portion of the electronic document that corresponds to the horizontal position in the electronic document of the displayed portion of the electronic document. After a predetermined condition is met, the display of the vertical bar and the horizontal bar is ceased while the displayed portion of the electronic document continues to be displayed, wherein the displayed portion of the electronic document has a vertical extent and a horizontal extent that are less than a vertical extent and horizontal extent of the electronic document, respectively.

Vertical and horizontal bars may have, without limitation, a rectangular cross section, a rectangular cross section with rounded corners, or a racetrack oval cross section with two opposing flat sides and two opposing rounded sides.

In some embodiments, the vertical and/or horizontal bars appear for a predetermined period of time (e.g., 1-2 seconds) when an electronic document or a list of items is first displayed, even if no object is detected on or near the electronic document or list of items. This initial display of the vertical and/or horizontal bars signals to the user that the electronic document or list of items is scrollable.

In some embodiments, the vertical and/or horizontal bars appear for a predetermined period of time (e.g., 1-2 seconds) when only a portion of an electronic document or list of items is first displayed, even if no object is detected on or near the electronic document or list of items. This initial display of the vertical and/or horizontal bars signals to the user that the electronic document or list of items is scrollable and that only a portion of the electronic document or list of items is being displayed.

As described above, the vertical and/or horizontal bars provide portable multifunction devices with more transparent and intuitive user interfaces for navigating portions of electronic documents and/or lists of items that are easy to use. In addition, the vertical and/or horizontal bars do not reduce the screen area available for the display of documents, lists, and other content.

The foregoing description, for purpose of explanation, has been described with reference to specific embodiments. However, the illustrative discussions above are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed. Many modifications and variations are possible in view of the above teachings. It is therefore intended that the following appended claims and claims hereafter introduced be interpreted to include all such modifications, permutations, additions and sub-combinations as are within their true spirit and scope.

The embodiments were chosen and described in order to best explain the principles of the invention and its practical applications, to thereby enable others skilled in the art to best utilize the invention and various embodiments with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated.

EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS

The inventor has performed experimentation on various opacity levels of the first and second vertical and/or horizontal bars, in order to determine their most advantageous values. The experimentation was performed using different models of multifunction portable devices, with touch screen displays sized between 4 inches and 5.7 inches, having resolutions of between 640×1136 pixels for the smaller displays and 1440×2560 for the larger displays, with the displays being set to different brightness levels, and with the devices used under different ambient light conditions.

It was found that human observers usually start differentiating between two intermittently displayed bars when their opacities are approximately 5% (0.05 alpha points) apart. However, only a small portion of the participants, which were using their devices at relatively high brightness levels, were able to make the differentiation at this small opacity difference.

Near-perfect differentiation between the objects was achieved when their opacities were approximately 30% (0.3 alpha points) apart. At lower brightness levels and higher ambient light levels, some participants needed a larger opacity different (approximately 50%, or 0.5 alpha points apart) to grasp the difference between the bars.

These findings are in line with those of Garner (2012) and Gupta (2003). Garner, in “Beyond Design: The Synergy of Apparel Product Development”, Fairchild Books, Third Edition, (Jun. 15, 2012), page 140, found that “the human eye cannot easily distinguish among more than five to seven gray tones”. These 5-7 gray tones referred to by Garner translate into an approximately 33-20% difference, respectively, between opacities (assuming that 0% and 100% opacities constitute two of these tones, and the remaining 3 or 5 tones are spread evenly in between). Gupta, in “Remote Sensing Geoloy”, Springer, Second Edition, (Mar. 10, 2003), page 262, stated “the human eye can distinguish at most only about 20-25 gray tones”, translating into an approximately 5.5-4.3% difference, respectively, between opacities (assuming that 0% and 100% opacities constitute two of these tones, and the remaining 18 or 23 tones are spread evenly in between).

All in all, based on the findings of the inventors and those in the literature presented above, it appears advantageous to set the opacity levels of the first and second horizontal and/or vertical bars (e.g., those illustrated in FIGS. 24A-B and discussed with reference to these figures) at least 30% (0.3 alpha points) apart. In some scenarios, where it is desired to ensure differentiation by the user also at challenging lighting conditions, an even higher opacity difference may be used, for example approximately 50% (0.5 alpha points) or more. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A method, comprising: at a portable multifunction device with a touch screen display: displaying a portion of an electronic document on the touch screen display, wherein the displayed portion of the electronic document has a vertical position in the electronic document; displaying a first vertical bar on top of the displayed portion of the electronic document, wherein the first vertical bar is displayed proximate to a vertical edge of the displayed portion of the electronic document, wherein the first vertical bar has a vertical position on top of the displayed portion of the electronic document that corresponds to the vertical position in the electronic document of the displayed portion of the electronic document; detecting a movement of an object on or near the touch screen display, wherein the movement is in a direction on the displayed portion of the electronic document; in response to detecting the movement: (a) scrolling the electronic document displayed on the touch screen display in the direction of movement of the object so that a new portion of the electronic document is displayed, (b) replacing the first vertical bar with a second vertical bar, (c) moving the second vertical bar to a new vertical position such that the new vertical position corresponds to the vertical position in the electronic document of the displayed new portion of the electronic document, and maintaining the second vertical bar proximate to the vertical edge of the displayed portion of the electronic document; and in response to a predetermined condition being met, replacing the second vertical bar with the first vertical bar, while continuing to display the displayed portion of the electronic document, wherein the displayed portion of the electronic document has a vertical extent that is less than a vertical extent of the electronic document, wherein: i) an opacity of the first vertical bar is defined by an alpha channel value of 0.1 or more, ii) an opacity of the second vertical bar is defined by an alpha channel value of 1 or less, and iii) the alpha channel value of the first vertical bar is lower by at least 0.3 than the alpha channel value of the second vertical bar, and wherein a difference between the alpha channel values of the first and second vertical bars is smaller for a higher brightness setting of the touch screen display and is larger for a lower brightness setting of the touch screen display, such that a difference between the opacities of the first and second vertical bars is human-observable, and such that a segment of the electronic document which lies beneath the first vertical bar is partially human-observable.
 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein: the alpha channel value of the first vertical bar is between 0.1 and 0.5; and the alpha channel value of the second vertical bar is between 0.8 and
 1. 3. The method according to claim 1, wherein: the alpha channel value of the first vertical bar is between 0.1 and 0.2; and the alpha channel value of the second vertical bar is between 0.5 and
 1. 4. The method according to claim 1, wherein: the alpha channel value of the first vertical bar is lower by at least 0.5 than the alpha channel value of the second vertical bar.
 5. The method according to claim 4, wherein: the alpha channel value of the first vertical bar is between 0.1 and 0.4; and the alpha channel value of the second vertical bar is between 0.9 and
 1. 6. The method according to claim 1, further comprising, when the portion of the electronic document is initially displayed: displaying the second vertical bar for a predetermined time period even if no object is detected on or near the electronic document, and replacing the second vertical bar with the first vertical bar immediately following the predetermined time period.
 7. The method according to claim 6, wherein the predetermined period is between 0.5 seconds and 5 seconds.
 8. The method according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined condition comprises ceasing to detect the object on or near the touch screen display.
 9. The method according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined condition comprises ceasing to detect the object on or near the touch screen display for a predetermined time period.
 10. The method according to claim 1, wherein the object is a finger.
 11. The method according to claim 1, wherein the first and the second vertical bars each have a major axis, and wherein a portion of the electronic document along the major axis of each of the first and the second vertical bars is not covered by either one of the first and the second vertical bars.
 12. A portable multifunction device, comprising: a touch screen display; one or more hardware processors; a non-transient memory; and one or more programs stored in the non-transient memory and are configured to be executed by at least one of the one or more hardware processors, the one or more programs including instructions for: displaying a portion of an electronic document on the touch screen display, wherein the displayed portion of the electronic document has a vertical position in the electronic document; displaying a first vertical bar on top of the displayed portion of the electronic document, wherein the first vertical bar is displayed proximate to a vertical edge of the displayed portion of the electronic document, wherein the first vertical bar has a vertical position on top of the displayed portion of the electronic document that corresponds to the vertical position in the electronic document of the displayed portion of the electronic document; detecting a movement of an object on or near the touch screen display, wherein the movement is in a direction on the displayed portion of the electronic document; in response to detecting the movement: (a) scrolling the electronic document displayed on the touch screen display in the direction of movement of the object so that a new portion of the electronic document is displayed, (b) replacing the first vertical bar with a second vertical bar, (c) moving the second vertical bar to a new vertical position such that the new vertical position corresponds to the vertical position in the electronic document of the displayed new portion of the electronic document, and maintaining the second vertical bar proximate to the vertical edge of the displayed portion of the electronic document; and in response to a predetermined condition being met, replacing the second vertical bar with the first vertical bar, while continuing to display the displayed portion of the electronic document, wherein the displayed portion of the electronic document has a vertical extent that is less than a vertical extent of the electronic document, wherein: i) an opacity of the first vertical bar is defined by an alpha channel value of 0.1 or more, ii) an opacity of the second vertical bar is defined by an alpha channel value of 1 or less, and iii) the alpha channel value of the first vertical bar is lower by at least 0.3 than the alpha channel value of the second vertical bar, and wherein a difference between the alpha channel values of the first and second vertical bars is smaller for a higher brightness setting of the touch screen display and is larger for a lower brightness setting of the touch screen display, such that a difference between the opacities of the first and second vertical bars is human-observable, and such that a segment of the electronic document which lies beneath the first vertical bar is partially human-observable.
 13. The device according to claim 12, wherein: the alpha channel value of the first vertical bar is between 0.1 and 0.5; and the alpha channel value of the second vertical bar is between 0.8 and
 1. 14. The device according to claim 12, wherein: the alpha channel value of the first vertical bar is between 0.1 and 0.2; and the alpha channel value of the second vertical bar is between 0.5 and
 1. 15. The device according to claim 12, wherein: the alpha channel value of the first vertical bar is lower by at least 0.5 than the alpha channel value of the second vertical bar.
 16. The device according to claim 15, wherein: the alpha channel value of the first vertical bar is between 0.1 and 0.4; and the alpha channel value of the second vertical bar is between 0.9 and
 1. 17. The device according to claim 12, wherein the one or more programs further include instructions for, when the portion of the electronic document is initially displayed: displaying the second vertical bar for a time period of between 0.5 seconds and 5 seconds even if no object is detected on or near the electronic document, and replacing the second vertical bar with the first vertical bar immediately following the predetermined time period.
 18. The device according to claim 12, wherein the predetermined condition comprises one of: ceasing to detect the object on or near the touch screen display; and ceasing to detect the object on or near the touch screen display for a predetermined time period.
 19. The device according to claim 12, wherein the object is a finger.
 20. The device according to claim 12, wherein the first and the second vertical bars each have a major axis, and wherein a portion of the electronic document along the major axis of each of the first and the second vertical bars is not covered by either one of the first and the second vertical bars. 